Kobe Steel executives resign after data fabrication scandal

Tokyo-based Kobe Steel Ltd. has announced that CEO Hiroya Kawasaki and Executive Vice President Akira Kaneko have resigned effective April 1 following a scandal over the fabrication of data for products delivered to a variety of industries.

The company also said it has discovered that more affected products were shipped to some 163 companies, with the total number growing to more than 600 firms.

In October 2017 Kobe Steel announced it found inspection data had been fabricated on some aluminum and copper products shipped to hundreds of companies. More data fabrication cases were discovered later in steel products.

Two managing executive officers who knew of the irregularities also have resigned, and an executive officer will have his pay cut by 80 percent for four months. All other executive officers and all board members, excluding outside directors and members of the audit and supervisory committee, will have 10 to 50 percent pay cuts for one to four months.

The presidents at two subsidiaries—Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube Co. and Shinko Metal Products Co., where most affected products were shipped from—will resign as of April 1.