Japan Tourist, Vaccine Business Fraud and Lack of Consistency in Social Responsibility Branding
On July 5, the Osaka Prefectural Police re-arrested Hiroshi Moriguchi, 54, the former branch manager of the MICE branch of Japan Tourist Kansai Corporation, and two employees, who were arrested in June this year on suspicion of fraud in the vaccine business in Higashiosaka City. The three were arrested for exploiting 589 million yen in their work until March last year, but it turned out that they had exploited another 350 million yen in the six months until September. The three suspects were all veteran employees in their 50s who were powerful at the branch.
In April of this year, fraudulent billing for personnel costs for a vaccine project in Higashiosaka City, which was commissioned by Japan Tourist, was discovered. Subsequently, the company inspected 2,924 public projects in charge of the three years from 2020, and on May 2, the company revealed that it was suspected of overcharging by 1.6 billion yen. In 16 municipalities, including Osaka Prefecture, Higashiosaka City, and Yaizu City, there was a suspicion that employees were aware of overbilling, and in the other 70 municipalities, it was explained that the paperwork was inadequate. Subsequently, on June 1, the company revised the overcharge to 1.47 billion yen and announced that it would return the money to the relevant municipalities. Then, on June 15, three people were arrested in connection with the Higashiosaka City incident.
KNT-CT Holdings, the parent company of Japan Tourist, has not reported on the remaining cases since the Higashiosaka City incident and the apology was issued on June 15 (as of July 4, before the re-arrest). In an interview with the editorial department, a spokesperson commented, "We intend to fulfill our accountability, but individual cases are being discussed with local governments and police officials, and there are some cases that cannot be issued depending on the case. In the wake of this re-arrest, attention will be focused on the disclosure of information in other cases and the attitude of management.
This time, one of the industry's leading travel agencies committed fraud in the vaccine business, which should be a high responsibility. While many small tourism operators are struggling during the Corona disaster, major travel companies have benefited from public services, and there are stories of record profits and record bonuses.
KNT-CT Holdings introduced compliance, CSR & Sustainability, ESG, and SDGs on its official website, and focused on branding that incorporates social responsibility into management. However, this inconsistency has been exposed in this case.
There was a series of fraudulent activities by travel agencies in public projects during the Corona disaster. Since around 2014, major travel agencies have been riding the trend of promoting regional revitalization and increasing their participation in public projects. It can be said that this vaccine business is an extension of this.
At the press conference to apologize, the travel agency that committed the fraud said that it would work to prevent recurrence and strengthen compliance, but before doing so, it will be necessary to reconsider the trust in the company that has been built by the staff who work hard to serve customers at the counter every day.
