Police arrested a trio of former top Yamaichi Securities Co. executives Wednesday over an alleged coverup by the firm of some 260 billion yen in losses by window-dressing financial records, prosecutors said.

The three, who had been questioned earlier Wednesday, are former chairman of Yamaichi Tsugio Yukihira, 66, former president Atsuo Miki, 62, and former vice president Ryuji Shirai, 62. Their arrests came after a raid on Yamaichi's Tokyo head office, Yukihira's home, and other places earlier in the day.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office said each has confessed to the charges, which state the trio allegedly submitted falsified financial statements in violation of the securities law and covered up losses in the business year ending March 31, 1997.

In November, Yamaichi, which was at that time one of the nation's Big Four brokerage houses, announced it would liquidate itself because of 264.8 billion yen in off-the-book losses, becoming the biggest post-war financial failure in the nation's history. The three executives are thought to have window-dressed financial reports to hide such off-the-book losses, prosecutors said.