Former Mitsubishi President Arrested!
#1
06-10-2004, 12:45 PM
Former Mitsubishi President Arrested!
Former Mitsubishi President Arrested
By YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO (AP) - Katsuhiko Kawasoe, the former president of scandal-plagued Mitsubishi Motors Corp., was arrested Thursday on charges related to a cover-up of auto defects suspected in a fatal accident, the Japanese automaker said. Mitsubishi Motors President Yoichiro Okazaki apologized for the case, which centers on an October 2002 accident in which the driver of a Mitsubishi-made truck died after the brakes failed.
``We take this matter very seriously and intend to fully cooperate in investigations,' Okazaki said.
Police confirmed there had been an arrest in the Mitsubishi Motors cover-up on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
Mitsubishi Motors has been plagued by a series of recalls since four years ago when it first admitted it had systematically hidden auto defects and announced a massive recall.
Kawasoe resigned in 2000 to take responsibility for the scandal, although he was not personally implicated and denied any knowledge of the cover-up system that had been going on for decades at his company.
In addition to the October 2002 truck crash, the company has acknowledged two other accidents involving injuries linked to a defect that causes clutch covers to crack and could lead to brake failure. A cracked cover could cause a propeller shaft, which distributes power from the engine to the wheels, to fall off and sever a brake hose.
The former chairman of the Mitsubishi truck unit and four other officials have been arrested and charged in a separate January 2002 accident, in which a pedestrian died after being crushed by a wheel that came off a Mitsubishi truck.
In April, DaimlerChrysler, which owns 37 percent of Mitsubishi Motors, dealt the Japanese company a serious blow by refusing to provide fresh financing. Mitsubishi Motors announced a revival plan last month, with injections of money from the Mitsubishi group and other companies.
Mitsubishi has said there may be more recalls, and executives - shown almost by the day on televised news and newspapers bowing their heads deeply - expect sales in coming months to fare worse than the nearly 60 percent plunge reported in May on-year in Japan.
Kawasoe took over the automaker after a 1997 scandal involving payoffs to racketeers and promised to fix his company, including monitoring product quality.
06/10/04 06:59
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
By YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO (AP) - Katsuhiko Kawasoe, the former president of scandal-plagued Mitsubishi Motors Corp., was arrested Thursday on charges related to a cover-up of auto defects suspected in a fatal accident, the Japanese automaker said. Mitsubishi Motors President Yoichiro Okazaki apologized for the case, which centers on an October 2002 accident in which the driver of a Mitsubishi-made truck died after the brakes failed.
``We take this matter very seriously and intend to fully cooperate in investigations,' Okazaki said.
Police confirmed there had been an arrest in the Mitsubishi Motors cover-up on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
Mitsubishi Motors has been plagued by a series of recalls since four years ago when it first admitted it had systematically hidden auto defects and announced a massive recall.
Kawasoe resigned in 2000 to take responsibility for the scandal, although he was not personally implicated and denied any knowledge of the cover-up system that had been going on for decades at his company.
In addition to the October 2002 truck crash, the company has acknowledged two other accidents involving injuries linked to a defect that causes clutch covers to crack and could lead to brake failure. A cracked cover could cause a propeller shaft, which distributes power from the engine to the wheels, to fall off and sever a brake hose.
The former chairman of the Mitsubishi truck unit and four other officials have been arrested and charged in a separate January 2002 accident, in which a pedestrian died after being crushed by a wheel that came off a Mitsubishi truck.
In April, DaimlerChrysler, which owns 37 percent of Mitsubishi Motors, dealt the Japanese company a serious blow by refusing to provide fresh financing. Mitsubishi Motors announced a revival plan last month, with injections of money from the Mitsubishi group and other companies.
Mitsubishi has said there may be more recalls, and executives - shown almost by the day on televised news and newspapers bowing their heads deeply - expect sales in coming months to fare worse than the nearly 60 percent plunge reported in May on-year in Japan.
Kawasoe took over the automaker after a 1997 scandal involving payoffs to racketeers and promised to fix his company, including monitoring product quality.
06/10/04 06:59
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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