Tohokushinsha, a satellite broadcasting affiliate, has released a report of a special investigation committee consisting of outside lawyers due to the entertainment issue of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Among them, after grasping that it violated the foreign capital regulation, in August 2017, it was confirmed that the executive of the company visited the section chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, who is in charge of licensing satellite broadcasting, and made some reports and consultations. It is rational to do.
Regarding the violation of foreign capital regulations by Tohokushinsha, a discrepancy has been revealed between the company that reported it and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications that it did not receive the report.
Regarding this, in the investigation report released by Tohokushinsha, after finding out that the company violates foreign capital regulations, on August 18, 2017, records of email exchanges and transportation expenses traveled by taxi It is said that an executive visited the satellite and regional broadcasting section chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications from the settlement of the taxi.
After that, based on the contents of the e-mail etc., the executives of the company
made some reports to the general affairs section manager of the Information Distribution Administration Bureau at that time about the possibility of violating foreign capital regulations by August 9 of this year. ,
▼ In addition, it
is rational to certify that the
chief of the satellite / regional broadcasting section visited on August 18 has made some reports and consultations regarding the succession of the certification of satellite core broadcasting to the subsidiary on the premise of conflict with foreign capital regulations.
It is said that it is a target.
In addition, in this survey, 54 meals with executives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications were confirmed from November 2015 to December last year, including those not included in the survey results of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced earlier. It is said.
Regarding such a dinner, the report said, "I have to say that there was a possibility that Tohokushinsha might have expected to obtain information that could not be obtained at daytime meetings, and in terms of compliance, There is a serious problem. "
On the other hand, regarding application procedures such as certification of the group's satellite core broadcasting business related to violations of foreign capital regulations, "there is no evidence of unjustified efforts".
The report also points out that the background of the series of problems was the lack of awareness of top management regarding entertainment for civil servants and the problem of the corporate governance system.
Confirmed 20 new dinners
In the report, the names of the attendees on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications side were not disclosed for the 54 dinners, but according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications officials, 34 of the 54 dinners have already been announced. The remaining 20 cases were not known by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
It is said that these 20 dinners were held with seven Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications staff, and six of them whose names have been identified have already been disciplined for another entertainment from the Tohokushinsha side.
The remaining one has not been identified in the Tohokushinsha report, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications says it is under investigation.
We also give tickets for professional baseball
According to the report, while Tohokushinsha was responding to the issue of foreign capital regulation violations, it was newly mentioned that on August 28, 2017, he had a dinner with the then satellite / regional broadcasting section chief who was in charge of licensing satellite broadcasting. I understand.
The section chief at that time was Kozo Ibata, the section chief of the Broadcasting Policy Division, and former executive officers participated in the dinner, and it was said that the story of professional baseball was exciting.
After that, he gave the section chief a ticket for the annual seat of Tokyo Dome, which Tohokushinsha had a contract with.
In the report on this dinner, it is not recognized that it was set for the purpose of encouraging foreign capital regulation, and "it is unlikely that the topic of succession of certification was not made at all at the dinner."
The involvement of Prime Minister Suga's eldest son
According to the report, Mr. Masatake Suga, the eldest son of Prime Minister Suga and the general manager of Tohokushinsha, attended 22 meetings from 2015 to last year, including a dinner with executives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
It is said that it is not admitted that he was present at the dinner for the purpose of obtaining information, etc., because he did not actively set the dinner by himself or the case where he attended alone.
In addition, when the issue of foreign capital regulation violation occurred in August 2017, Mr. Suga said that he was not particularly involved.
It is said that no cases of unjustified efforts were confirmed in the dinner between Mr. Suga and the executives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the exchange of emails before and after the dinner.
The report then concludes that the Tohokushinsha side suggests that it has a connection with Prime Minister Suga and does not recognize that it intended to do anything.
Background of violation of foreign capital regulations
The Broadcasting Law stipulates that satellite broadcasters must have a foreign capital ratio of less than 20% of voting shares, and the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications must revoke the certification in case of violation. ..
Tohokushinsha applied for the certification of "The Cinema 4K" for BS4K broadcasting in October 2016, and was certified by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in January 2017, but in reality, it is still in the application stage. In addition, the foreign capital ratio exceeded 20%, and it was in a state of violating the law.
According to Tohokushinsha's president Shinya Nakajima's response in the Diet, it was August 4, 2017 that the Tohokushinsha side noticed that there was a risk of violating foreign capital regulations in the certification of BS4K broadcasting.
The trigger was the reorganization plan of the satellite broadcasting business announced by Tohokushinsha on July 28, 2017, one week before that.
On this day, Tohokushinsha resolved at the board of directors to inherit the three channels of CS broadcasting from group companies, etc., and announced it, but in the process of applying for it, I realized that there was a risk of violating foreign capital regulations. about it.
In response to this, Tohokushinsha announced on August 16 that it has stopped the business of inheriting the three channels of CS broadcasting and changed its policy to inherit it to its subsidiaries.
Two weeks later, on September 1, a wholly owned subsidiary, Tohokushinsha Media Service, will be established, and on September 5, the BS4K broadcasting business, which was certified by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, will be succeeded to this subsidiary. Announced.
Tohokushinsha was still illegal with the foreign capital ratio exceeding 20% even after applying to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for succession to a subsidiary, but the certification was not revoked and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on October 13, 2017. , CS broadcasting 3 channels and BS4K broadcasting "The Cinema 4K" total 4 channels have been approved to be inherited by "Tohokushinsha Media Service".
Kozo Ibata, Chief of the Broadcasting Policy Division, who was the Chief of the Satellite and Regional Broadcasting Division at that time, was also involved in this decision, and Makiko Yamada, a former Cabinet Public Relations Secretary who was the Director of the Information Distribution Administration Bureau at that time, was the top decision-maker.
In response to this problem, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has revoked the certification of BS4K broadcasting "The Cinema 4K" inherited by the subsidiary on the 1st of this month.
Inconsistent explanation
When did the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications recognize the situation of violation of foreign capital regulations?
The explanations on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and Tohokushinsha are inconsistent.
According to Tohokushinsha's president Shinya Nakajima's response in the Diet, he noticed that there was a risk of violating foreign capital regulations on August 4, 2017, before the subsidiary inherited the BS4K broadcasting certification. Around August 9, a day later, a former executive officer of Tohokushinsha met with Shinya Suzuki, who was the general affairs section manager of the bureau in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications at that time, and reported that there was a risk of violating foreign capital regulations. Explains.
At that time, Kozo Ibata, the chief of the satellite and regional broadcasting section, who was in charge of licensing satellite broadcasting, reported to Mr. Suzuki because he was on vacation, and President Nakajima said, "To eliminate the illegal situation. I came up with the idea of passing it on to a subsidiary at the table. "
In the investigation report, the former director of the company sent an email to his subordinates on August 9, saying, "As a result of a secret hearing by the former executive officer with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications regarding foreign capital restrictions, Tohokushinsha cannot be certified. It is reasonable to certify that by August 9th, the general affairs section manager at that time had made some kind of report on the possibility of a conflict with foreign capital regulations.
On the other hand, Mr. Suzuki, who was the general affairs section manager at that time, said in the Diet reply on March 16th, "You may have come to say hello, but you should remember if you heard an important story such as a violation of foreign capital restrictions. I have no memory of the fact that I received the report. "
According to the report, former executive officers and former directors of Tohokushinsha met with the satellite / regional broadcasting section chief in charge of satellite broadcasting licensing on August 18, 2017.
Two days before that, Tohokushinsha announced that it had stopped the business of inheriting the three channels of CS broadcasting and changed the policy to let the subsidiary inherit it.
Mr. Ibata, the chief of the satellite and regional broadcasting section at that time, said in the report, "It is recognized that the former executive officers made some reports and consultations to the section chief at that time regarding the succession to the subsidiary on the premise of conflict with foreign capital regulations. Is rational. "
The grounds for this are the record of email exchanges and the settlement of transportation expenses that Kasumigaseki traveled by taxi. In the internal email sent on August 21 after the visit, the section chief said to the former executive officer, "4K. It is stated that he received a message saying, "I want you to take over the taxi as soon as possible."
In addition, while the corporate lawyer asked by e-mail "Isn't the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications a problem?" Regarding the succession to the subsidiary, the company said that "the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has confirmed that there is no problem." I will.
On the other hand, Hiroshi Yoshida, director of the Information and Distribution Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, said in a Diet response on March 17 that he confirmed with Mr. Ibata and other staff members at the section chief level and above that "all may violate foreign capital regulations. I don't remember receiving the report from Tohokushinsha. "
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications report receipt investigation proceed
According to the people concerned, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was contacted by the Tohokushinsha side at the end of last month about the outline of the investigation report, and is proceeding with the investigation within the ministry.
Specifically, regarding the newly revealed 20 executives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the company's 20 dinners, we interviewed 6 executives who have been named to see if it is illegal entertainment. Checking it up.
In addition, the third-party committee, which verifies whether the administration has been distorted by entertainment, investigates whether the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was aware of the fact of the violation in advance over the issue of foreign capital regulation violations. doing.
In the investigation report of Tohokushinsha, it was concluded from the e-mails left in the company that "it is rational to certify that the company had made some kind of report to the two section chiefs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications at that time." The third-party committee is conducting hearings with these two people.
According to the people concerned, both of them explained that they both said, "I don't remember hearing from the Tohokushinsha side in advance that they violated foreign capital regulations." The focus is on what conclusions the third-party committee will draw.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is coordinating the results of internal investigations and verifications by third-party committees in the direction of compiling and publishing them early next month.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato "Investigation and verification by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications"
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato said at a press conference on the afternoon of the 24th, "I know that the investigation report by the special investigation committee of Tohokushinsha was released, but I do not know the details. I am aware that there were reports of a dinner with Tohokushinsha executives and the company's violation of foreign capital regulations. "
On that basis, "Currently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has set up a verification committee to verify the issue of violations of foreign capital regulations regarding Tohokushinsha, and is aware that a thorough investigation is underway for dinners that violate the ethical rules. I would like the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to carry out a thorough investigation and verification while keeping in mind the contents of this report from the Tohokushinsha side. "
Secretary-general Fukuyama "Truth Investigation Report"
Secretary-general Fukuyama of the Constitutional Democratic Party told reporters, "The fact that there was such a dinner with the executives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications means that the entertainment was normal. I would like to confirm whether I was involved. I would like to urge the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to issue a true investigation report, including the connection between foreign capital regulation violations and entertainment. "