Hakuhodo's subsidy business reveals an opaque consignment structure - Investigation by the Board of Audit reveals
An investigation by the Board of Audit revealed that Hakuhodo, a major advertising company that was in charge of the secretariat as a subsidiary operator, had an opaque consignment structure in a subsidy project of about 36.9 billion yen implemented by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. (Photo: Akasaka Biz Tower, where Hakuhodo is located)
The two projects at issue are the "Electricity Utilization Efficiency Promotion Measures Project (Electricity Conservation Secretariat: approx. 4.9 billion yen)" and the "Electricity and Gas Price Mitigation Measures Project (previous fiscal year: approx. 32 billion yen)" implemented by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy in FY2022.
According to an investigation by the Board of Auditors, " Hakuhodo About 70% (about 26.9 billion yen) of the total administrative expenses of about 36.9 billion yen in the two businesses managed by the company were outsourced, of which about 24.8 billion yen was allocated to 100% of the subsidiary's " Hakuhodo Products Assigned to: In addition, about 22.1 billion yen will be re-consigned, of which about 19.3 billion yen will be used by event companies. Varius Dimensions It was re-commissioned to.
| * In the announcement by the Board of Audit, the amount and the ratio of commission costs for each business are combined. |
In terms of business structure, several other companies were incorporated into the system of consignment, subcontracting, and re-consignment, and in each business, only the consignment rate from Hakuhodo to Hakuhodo Products and Varius Dimensions stood out at 70% or more to 90% or more.
In addition, since the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry requires that the reason be explained in writing at the time of application when the consignment rate exceeds 50%, Hakuhodo submitted a statement of reasons to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
However, the Board of Audit has pointed out that it is difficult to confirm the validity of the contractor with regard to the statement of reasons prepared by Hakuhodo, and the legitimacy of the reason for selection is unclear because no quotation is prepared.
In addition, there is no record of the decision-making process of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the lack of transparency is regarded as a problem.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) stipulates that "if the consignment rate exceeds 50%, a statement of reasons must be submitted," and "the applicant for the lowest price will be selected based on a phase estimate, or, if not, the validity will be judged by the statement of reasons," and "the department in charge shall submit the reason for adoption to the department head, and the department head shall confirm the decision to adopt."
When the editorial department asked the current person in charge of the Energy Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, he emphasized that the judgment of the department in charge at the time was reasonable, saying, "We can read the reason for selecting the contractor in Hakuhodo's application documents (about 300 pages of proposal and statement of reasons)."
On the other hand, regarding the fact that there is no record of the reason for adoption in the section in charge, he admitted that "the person in charge at the time did not save the documents." When asked if the person in charge at the time would be held accountable in response to the point made by the Board of Audit, he commented, "It will be left to the department in charge."
When the editorial department asked the person in charge of the Board of Audit about the problem, he pointed out that there was a problem with the attitude of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as a project supervisor and the transparency of Hakuhodo's public works management. In the background, he says, "Based on the lessons learned from the Sustainability Benefit Project, the current situation of the complex consignment structure in public works should be widely recognized and discussed by society."
Hakuhodo on the official website Procurement Policy It claims to ensure legal compliance and transparency, but according to the Board of Auditors, it is questionable whether the principles are being applied. In addition, there is a lack of proper business management and fair partnerships, and a profit-first attitude is suspected.
On the official website of the parent company Hakuhodo DY Holdings, the group's Code of Conduct When faced with a choice between profit and ethics, he promises to "prioritize ethics in any economic situation." On November 8, the company announced a new sustainability policy. disclosure Have.
In July of this year, the company was fined 200 million yen and the former president of a subsidiary was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, in connection with the bid-rigging scandal at the Tokyo Olympics.
| On November 6, the Board of Audit submitted the Financial Settlement Inspection Report for FY2023 (including FY2022 projects) to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. There were 345 cases (about 64,862 million yen) of which were pointed out as wasting taxpayers' money, of which 294 cases (7,736 million yen) were in violation of laws and regulations. More than 1 in 10 public works projects had fraud. |
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Accounting Audit Committee Member (Financial Results Inspection Report for FY5 of Reiwa)
