Is it discovered that the Employment Adjustment Subsidy was fraudulently received at the HIS subsidiary-GoTo fraudulent apology press conference is also underway?
On November 25, 2024, HIS announced that its subsidiary Number One Travel Shibuya was likely to have fraudulently received an employment adjustment subsidy of approximately 100 million yen during the coronavirus pandemic.
Number One Travel Shibuya, which sells airline tickets to foreigners, is said to have received an employment adjustment subsidy of about 100 million yen from April 2020 ~ March 2023. HIS has acknowledged the possibility of fraudulent receipt of benefits through internal investigations and analysis by external experts, and an investigation by the Tokyo Labor Bureau is currently underway.
| ※HISは2025年5月、ナンバーワントラベル渋谷の株式をRANJAN KUMAR DASDEB（神奈川県川崎市）に譲渡した。譲渡先は、雇用調整助成金の申請時に同社の代表取締役を務めていた。 |
If it is confirmed that the fraudulent receipt of the subsidy has been received, Number One Travel Shibuya will return the received subsidy and comply with the disposition of the authorities. In the travel industry, in February of this year, it was discovered that Meitetsu Tourism Service fraudulently received an employment adjustment subsidy of about 22 million yen, and the company returned the fraudulent amount as well as the legitimate subsidy amount of about 2.3 billion yen.
Chairman Sawada's remarks at the "GoTo Travel" apology press conference
HISを巡っては、2021年12月、コロナ禍の観光需要喚起策「Go To トラベル」事業において、子会社「ミキ・ツーリストand ジャパンホリデートラベル」が約7億円に上る不正受給を行っていたと報じられていました。さらに、この2社に加えて、HISグループと関わりの深い都内のホテル運営会社が不正受給のスキームに関与していたとも報じられています。
それに対し、HIS会長の沢田英雄氏は記者会見で、子会社の不正抑止策として、「子会社の全社長と面接を行い、教育してゆきたい」と述べるとともに、ガバナンスの見直しを約束しました。
In addition, when asked about Chairman Sawada's own responsibility, he said, "It would be a little unavoidable if it was disposed of (by an internal committee)," and emphasized that "HIS itself was not involved in any misconduct," and took an attitude as if to avoid responsibility, saying that "the management of the subsidiary was mismanaged."
At the same time as the press conference at the time of the discovery of the "GoTo Travel" fraud, there was a growing possibility that another subsidiary had fraudulently received employment adjustment subsidies, and at that time, there were doubts about whether Chairman Sawada had interviewed all the presidents of the subsidiaries and reviewed governance.