Sugiyama Takesha (Takeshi Sugiyama)

Sugiyama Takesha (Takeshi Sugiyama)

Biography

2021: Resignation as President of Mitsubishi Electric

In early July 2021, Mitsubishi Electric President Takeshi Sugiyama announced his resignation and attributed it to the scandal with forgery of documents for the company's products.

According to the results of an investigation conducted by the Japanese authorities, it turned out that Mitsubishi Electric had forged information about allegedly systematic inspections of their products for more than 35 years, in particular air conditioners, brake compressors and door opening systems for passenger trains. Between 1985 and 2000. The company produced about 84 thousand, as well as 1500 compressors from 2005 to 2020. Among the buyers of these products are the large Japanese railway operators East Japan Railway, West Japan Railway and Central Japan Railway.

Equipment that revealed violations was produced at a plant in Nagasaki Prefecture. About 20% of 160 people surveyed in connection with illegal behavior at the plant admitted their involvement.

It is reported that forgery of documentation was carried out using a computer program specially designed for this. In fact, equipment inspections were not carried out on a regular basis. However, Mitsubishi Electric claims that all of the company's products fully comply with safety standards.

Mitsubishi Electric reported that an inquiry committee chaired by a third-party lawyer will be established to clarify the situation and develop measures to prevent such problems from recurring.

According to Takesha Sugiyama, the management of Mitsubishi Electric learned about the falsification of documentation in mid-June, but decided not to report this at the annual meeting of shareholders on June 29. The company intends to submit a full report on what happened, as well as a list of measures that will be taken to resolve the problem in September.^[1]

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