Illicit activities by two suspects in a massive fraud case involving forged management approval documents from trading company Marubeni started from loans of several hundred million yen that the former president of a bankrupt medical consulting firm withdrew from a Tokyo brokerage, it has emerged.

The loans were withdrawn by Shigenori Saito, a 46-year-old suspect at the brokerage who formerly served as president of medical consulting firm Asclepius, which has filed for bankruptcy. They were for fictitious medical business work, and in a manner similar to the massive fraud incident, a Marubeni office was used for negotiations. Police believe that these loan withdrawals served as a prototype for subsequent fictitious investments.

Among the arrested suspects in the case is Yuzuru Yamanaka, a former division head in Marubeni's Life Care Business Department. Yamanaka and other suspects are believed to have amassed about 108 billion yen from major American financial firm Lehman Brothers and other investors for fictitious hospital restoration work.

Sources close to the investigation said that Yamanaka, who belonged to Marubeni, approached the brokerage about loans in March 2004, claiming they were for hospitals introducing expensive medical equipment, and said that Marubeni would guarantee the capital and the interest. Saito, who was in charge of new business projects at the brokerage, provided more than 300 million yen in loans over several occasions, and in June 2004, the money was reimbursed with 50 million yen interest.

Three months after this Saito gave the medical business division independent status and set up Asclepius. He retired from the brokerage in April 2005.

The loans in 2004 were deposited into the corporate account of Fumihiro Takahashi, 61, the arrested president of a construction consulting firm. About 37 billion yen from Lehman Brothers was reportedly deposited into this account.

Sources close to the brokerage said Yamanaka presented a statement of delivery from Marubeni and held discussions about deals in a Marubeni conference room. A Marubeni public relations official commenting on the loans said, "We have no records of them and were not involved at all as a company."

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.

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