Head of Giant Nippon T&T; Resigns in Scandal
The chairman of the world’s largest company resigned today, becoming the most prominent business victim in a stock scandal that also has brought the downfall of Japan’s finance minister.
Hisashi Shinto, 78, head of the telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co. since 1981, told officials he had not personally been involved in dubious share trading but was resigning to take responsibility for transactions by his then-personal secretary, who has disappeared.
On Friday, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa resigned because of a similar link to the scandal involving the Recruit Co., an information-based conglomerate that did business with Nippon.
Aides to Shinto, Miyazawa and other prominent people in politics and business received unlisted shares in Recruit-Cosmos Co., a subsidiary of Recruit Co., at bargain prices or with Recruit-backed loans.
The transactions were not illegal, but in the political cases they have brought stern criticism of the links between politics and big business.
Haruo Yamaguchi, president of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co., appeared shaken at a news conference where the resignation was announced. He said Shinto’s secretary had complete control of the bank account in question.
“(Shinto) said the transaction may have taken place but he could not confirm it because (the secretary’s) whereabouts are unknown,” Yamaguchi said.
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