Olympus scandal indirectly linked to yakuza: report

Financial brokers who helped Olympus cover up years of investment losses, now at the center of a growing scandal, have indirect links to Japan’s yakuza crime syndicates

Now there's a surprise!

But a third-party panel set up by Olympus to probe the cover-up denied on Monday...that the acquisition money could have been funnelled to organized crime or gangsters were involved in the deals.

Not if it has been translated properly it doesn't!

“Our committee has confirmed no such facts in its investigations so far,”

Note the "so far". Not an outright denial, but a lack of confirmation...so far.

Good excuse to save Business Image of a Big Japanese Company.

Mr. Woodford's safety is paramount. I said it before and I'll say it again. People are losing money real fast. To think that knocking off this guy in broad daylight is not on the table you'd be mistaken

Public assasinations aren't anything new. People are not untouchable in the eyes of organized crime. After all, how much does a bullet cost compared to the billions of yen lost and the possibility of jail time.

Message for the Keystone Kops! *Disclaimer This is by NO means a prediction or threat. I am unaware of any plot or intention cause harm to Mr. Woodford. I have to get that out of the way cause i'm just a working class blogger.

I'm simply worried about his safety. After reading an article like this. The investigators are suggesting a criminal element. A third party that may have been indirectly involved?

One thing is for sure in this country. The National Police Agency does not have the means to keep up with organized crime. There aren't any watchdog agencies here. I'll have the TV on most of the day Wednesday. I pray the day is uneventful.

and by "indirect", Japanese investigators mean "direct".

The irony is that by bringing in Woodford, a foreigner to a top mangement position, Olympus were probably trying to make changes, at least superficially, but they assumed that as he was "one of them" to the extent that he would have a "quiet word" or simply turn a blind eye to what was exposed. If Olympus has the book thrown at it, especially by the U.S. authorities who take a pretty dim view of such unethical behavior, hopefully it'll make other Japanese companies think twice about considering doing the same sort of thing. It was naive to think that they could get away with this forever, but then again, look how long they were able to.

Despite stories like Olympus, there are definitely many professional and well-run companies in Japan, but it is simply too difficult for most private investors, Japanese, let alone gaijin, to be able to tell which companies' figures can be trusted. This sort of scandal happen again and again over the years, and many investors are cautious about future plans to invest in Japan.

The involvement of the "anti-social forces" makes sense. I don't think that it necessarily means that the money all went to organised crime. It could be that organised crime were involved in brokering the deal.

I read an persuasive article about "mafiosi" or organised-crime-in-general, that said that the primary function of Sicilian Mafia and mafiosi, was as a private police force, employed to police illegal deals. If for instance you pay a broker to take a big kickback and expect him to pass 90% of that kickback back to your company to use as a slush fund, then you are in a sticky situation because the broker can do a runner and you can't go to the police to stop him. The same goes for cartels. If you are in a cartel and all members agree to take it in turns to make the winning bid on government contracts, then if one member of the cartel suddenly breaks the deal, then the other members can not turn to the police. In these situations people turn to organised crime, those "men of honour," to police the deal. The organised crime syndicate takes another 10%, looks really scary and has a reputation for honour, and none of the people involved renage, or tell the legal police, because the illegal police will have them for toast. So when there is an illegal deal going on - such as in the creation of a slush fund to cover bad debts - it can pay, the company, to have organised crime involved.

Our committee has confirmed no such facts in its investigations so far,” the committee’s chairman, Tatsuo Kainaka, said in a statement.

So, where did the money go Mr Kainaka? Pray tell.

Last week I asked Takahashi Dan about this scandal and he told me the Japanese Yakuza were behind this Olympus scandal!!

I hope Woodford does not come back. Why would he want to work for them again?

Woodford is still legally employed by them. He never quiet nor did he get fired.

The only surprise here is that some one has indicated the involvement of the Yakuza, the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun said it's true !

Most posts are at -3?

Fess up: Which one of you Japan Today users is a yak?

Thanks, TimTak. That makes a load of sense.

and by "indirect", Japanese investigators mean "direct".

Yes indeed. The headline is quite incorrect. The brokers used by Olympus for investments are very well known as Yakuza front companies. Nothing indirect about that. And this is old news.

The involvement of the "anti-social forces" makes sense. I don't think that it necessarily means that the money all went to organised crime. It could be that organised crime were involved in brokering the deal

Yes indeed, a broker. Yakuza front companies took a fee for hiding the losses.

NetNinja, i think its a bit late for them to start thinking of taking him down isnt it? The horse has left the stable, and the downhill slide will happen regardless of whether he is around or not.

Anyway, this is far, far to high publicity for anyone to be stupid enough to try to hurt him. That would just immediately prove underworld links, and bring further loss to Olympus's stocks/image

Hmm, Yakuza have been known to demand money to NOT create disruption at shareholder meetings and AGM's but the amounts here are a bit large for that, unless it has just snowballed out of control. I guess there could be other reasons so interested to see what the committee / SFO / Police / FSA all come up with. With so many investigations the chance of the truth remaining hidden is very small, as the stakes for not revealing are now so high.

"I think its a bit late for them to start thinking of taking him down isnt it?" Perhpas not, because there is still "honour," or brand image, involved. If the brokers of the deal are perceived as being ineffective at policing such deals, then people will be less likely to employ them in the future. I fear for Mr. Woodford.

as one highly respected japanese social commentator said, "yappari, ne."

It is like a pile of dirt , it was better if nobody have pull the thread but once you pull now it will all over .....it is hard to cover it will drag everyone .... it not new story .....we simply ignore ....as there is saying ignorance is bliss .......its dirty all over

Of course other Japanese companies, both large and small are cooking books. First of all, it's an international trend to stay competitive, keep the shareholders happy and keep getting overpaid. The ONLY reason Olympus got caught and we're reading about this is because Woodford blew the whistle. AND, he was in a position to be able to supply records to outside, international agencies, like the FBI. I also agree that he is not safe here in Japan. Let's not forget the former Nagasaki mayor who got shot point blank from behind not too long ago.

“Our committee has confirmed no such facts in its investigations so far,”

Ah, well, then that must be the case. I mean, Olympus has never lied before, right?

I agree with Timtak.

It was an ego that started this. Guys, nothing is off the table. They may choose to make an example out of this guy.

The mistake that some of you are making is to think that the criminal elements involved will do what's in their best interests. A logic, that so far (We love that - "so far"),we haven't seen any evidence of. Some of the posts seem to assume that criminal minds have a limit or some sort of play book with rules that they follow. Are some of you thinking there's honor among thieves? This is about thieves you know.

All we know at this point is this. The execs at the top are deceptive and perhaps unethical in their business practices. As we delve deeper into the rabbit hole, we now have some confirmation that their social circles are criminal.

So my question to all of you is this? How would you come to a conclusion that there is a limit as to how far they are willing to go? How can any of us say there is a method to this criminal madness? I don't know about you but this wasn't my major. I'd rather play it safe than sorry. If I were in Mr. Woodford's shoes or his attorney I would not have him getting off on a scheduled flight.

It is fair to say that I might be overreacting. Guess what, I sincerely hope I'm wrong. It would be better than a double-barrel shotgun at a press conference.

I think netninja is right!! Somebody here must be a spy for the Yamaguchi Gumi Kai!! LOL!!

spineless japanese corporate cretins and a lack of political will to eliminate organized crime are the factors that are in the background of this scenario.

the executives at olympus would seem to be seriously incompetent and not focused on the actual business of their company. where does such delusion come from? how do people with such dispositions make it to the top of corporations?

at least the japanese authorities are finally closing the gaps in the legal system that allowed such malfeasance to go unpunished.

now if the usa would do the same with respect to its finance sector and the kabals of freemasons and other secret societies that have worked behind the scenes, some in government, to undermine the regulatory regime in place since the depression, enabling the most massive extortion of public funds in history, etc.

it's a similar phenomenon in a globalized world of interconnected corrupt "elites", who are basically sociopathic parasites.

Olympus scandal indirectly linked to yakuza

On what criteria, then we might link most Japanese business to yakuza.

I am confused.

a. Are Olympus execs yakuza? b. Did yakuza infiltrate Olympus? c. Does Olympus use yakuza? d. Do Olympus and other Japanese execs commit criminal activities in an organized way? Then if they are not yakuza what's the name of their criminal organization. e. Doesn't Olympus and other Japanese execs behavior satisfy the criteria for antisocial behavior and cannot be called "Antisocial forces"

There is the possibility that Olympus has supplied cash (to organized crime) as a result, without knowing the background of (investment) funds effectively controlled by such brokers, f. Are they totally stupid or take us totally stupid trying to make us buy that? if the are stupid enough to not to realize what they do then why and how can they hold their position. Who helps them?

Just questions.

edit

There is the possibility that Olympus has supplied cash (to organized crime) as a result, without knowing the background of (investment) funds effectively controlled by such brokers,

f. Are they totally stupid or take us totally stupid trying to make us buy that? If the are stupid enough to not to realize what they do then why and how can they hold their position. Who helps them?

Just questions.

Read my post posts, been saying this for weeks now.

come on, its been obvious yakuza are involved as I said earlier, its simple!

20yrs ago olympus lost a ton on investments, which clearly a lot were held by yakuza, so instead of just writing it off & moving on, olympus has been trying to repay the yakuza losses(while covering them up), which they did with the gyrus & other deals of late, have olympus paid it all off or not who knows, but clearly the yakuza DIDNT let olympus write off the losses over the years, THAT is why we are seeing what we are these days.

As for how many other companies are doing the same, who knows, but you can bet this isnt just an olympus problem by a long shot!

As for how many other companies are doing the same, who knows, but you can bet this isnt just an olympus problem by a long shot!

I read an article about this issue a few years ago, it said that the 40% of the Japanese companies.

Olympus scandal indirectly linked to yakuza

On what criteria, then we might link most Japanese business to yakuza.

I am confused.

a. Are Olympus execs yakuza? b. Did yakuza infiltrate Olympus? c. Does Olympus use yakuza? d. Do Olympus and other Japanese execs commit criminal activities in an organized way? Then if they are not yakuza what's the name of their criminal organization. e. Doesn't Olympus and other Japanese execs behavior satisfy the criteria for antisocial behavior and cannot be called "Antisocial forces"

f. Japanese execs used Yakuza front companies as brokers. This is now against the law, however even before it links Olympus directly to Yakuza.

20yrs ago olympus lost a ton on investments, which clearly a lot were held by yakuza, so instead of just writing it off & moving on, olympus has been trying to repay the yakuza losses(while covering them up), which they did with the gyrus & other deals of late, have olympus paid it all off or not who knows, but clearly the yakuza DIDNT let olympus write off the losses over the years, THAT is why we are seeing what we are these days.

Not quite right. The investments that they lost money one weren't held by Yakuza. It was the investments with Yakuza front companies that were used to cover up the losses. The Yaks obviously took their cut.

There is the possibility that Olympus has supplied cash (to organized crime) as a result, without knowing the background of (investment) funds effectively controlled by such brokers,

Are they totally stupid or take us totally stupid trying to make us buy that? If the are stupid enough to not to realize what they do then why and how can they hold their position. Who helps them?

Yes, they must have known. The law now forces them to explicitly check. It stops them using the lame excuse: 'Oh we didn't know...'

@2020hindsights

I see, thanks for your reply. So, can we say Olympus execs are now left without backup?

the yakuza, who obviously were somehow privy to the information on the bad investments, were blackmailing the idiots and facilitating the cover up of the losses.

the olympus execs are probably insulated by the former nomura associated middlemen, but the middleman are probably going to jail.

i wonder if the authorities will be able to prosecute any of the yakuza for extortion?

As I said before this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many other Japanese companies have done the same thing and will eventually be found in the near future since the dominoes are starting to fall. I just learned today how many of the large Japanese corporate companies, e.g. Sony, have offices located around the German patent office so that they can quickly steal the info and patent in Japan or elsewhere. In Germany you have to disclose your invention to the public for one year, whereas in the USA the provisional patent can be filed and held in confidence. In short, there is a lot of misdeeds going on in the corporate world and it will be our job as the public to bring them all down.

I think Timtak and Horseferra have great comments! I have nothing to add except that I'm also very impressed by my Japanese amigo señor Takahashi!!

Gee, I always thought that every business got controlled by the yakuza. They are supposed to keep everything in order. Why is this a problem all of a sudden? It has been done for years.

I think Timtak and Horseferra have great comments! I have nothing to add except that I'm also very impressed by my Japanese amigo señor Takahashi!!

Elbuda -- huh? All timtak is saying, in his usual eloquent way, is that it is OK for a publicly traded company to use the yakuza to steal from their own share holders and deceive them and the authorities for two decades because it was convenient. And the yaks are good at that kind of thing. That is the most pathetic attempt to defend a criminal activity I've ever seen -- even for Japan.

I wonder if this will cause Japanese firms to not consider hiring a foreigner as CEO.

Anti-social forces or Yakuzas have many ways to corner easy earnings for their Oyabuun, I am not surprised in the case of Olypus. Yakuzas have infiltrated companies and even the law enforcement agencies.

20yrs ago olympus lost a ton on investments, which clearly a lot were held by yakuza, so instead of just writing it off & moving on, olympus has been trying to repay the yakuza losses(while covering them up),

Japanese-style privatizing profits and socializing losses.