In a lawsuit in which the company and its shareholders sought compensation from 15 former executives, including successive presidents, in the case of fraudulent accounting by Toshiba, a major electronics manufacturer, the Tokyo District Court handed down a judgment ordering compensation against five of them. This is the first judgment in Toshiba's accounting fraud that acknowledges the liability of the former management for compensation.
Toshiba claimed that the company suffered substantial losses due to a systematic accounting fraud scandal that was discovered in 2015, and sought compensation of 5.32 billion yen from five former management members, including former presidents such as former president Hisao Tanaka and former vice chairman Norio Sasaki.
In addition, a male shareholder also asked the company to compensate up to 5.10 billion yen to 33 former executives other than the five sued by the company.
In a ruling on March 28, Tokyo District Court Presiding Judge Yoshihide Asakura found that accounting for subway and expressway ETC, as well as construction work related to nuclear power plants, was illegal.
In addition, the court admitted responsibility for five people, including former President Tanaka and former Vice Chairman Sasaki, who were in a position to recognize accounting treatment for these works, and handed down judgments ordering them to compensate for their failure to "fail to fulfill their duty to stop or correct illegal accounting treatment."
This is the first judgment that acknowledges the liability of the former management for compensation over the issue of fraudulent accounting.