Police on Thursday arrested six former executives of the failed Tokyo Sowa Bank on suspicion they conspired to falsify accounts to hide the company's capital inadequacy.
Shoichi Osada, 77, who was chairman of the Tokyo-based second-tier regional bank when the suspected book manipulation reportedly took place, and Mizuho Kojima, 60, its president at the time, were among those arrested. The bank went under last June.
The other four are Masatoshi Fukui, 56, who was the bank's vice president, Hiroyasu Ebisui, 57, a senior managing director, Tachiki Takahashi, 47, a managing director, and Akira Watanabe, 49, who was in charge of promoting new loans.