Members of the Japanese Jiji Press Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force have been found to have accepted bribes from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, their submarine maintenance contractor, worth at least 1 billion yen, Japanese authorities said Monday.
It was allegedly employees of the Kobe Plant Repair Department at Kawasaki Heavy Industries who made the improper trades. In the course of submarine repair operations, secret funds were raised through fictitious ordering of materials from subcontractors and bribes such as catering, merchandise vouchers and daily necessities were provided to submarine crews.
It is reported that the falsification of trading funds may have been going on for a long time.
Minoru Muhara, Japan’s defense minister, said at a press conference on the 5th that special defense monitoring will be implemented to find out the truth of the incident. “If this is true, this is a serious matter that should be taken seriously,” he added
Kyodo said Kawasaki was a stakeholder in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s submarine crew, which could be subject to disciplinary action under the self-defense Forces Personnel Ethics Act.
About half of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s submarines are made by Kawasaki heavy industry, the Kyodo news agency said, adding that in addition to regular inspections every three years, the company also performs temporary repairs.