A pro-Pyongyang credit union in Tokyo, which collapsed in 1999, is suspected of withholding data on its loan recipients during an inspection in 1998, sources close to the case said Sunday.
Investigators are planning to question former executives of the Chogin Tokyo credit union in the near future after administrators of the union file a criminal complaint against them, the sources said.
The government's Deposit Insurance Corp. and other Chogin Tokyo administrators have begun discussions with investigators to prepare for filing a complaint on suspicion the former executives violated the law governing operations of mutual aid associations, they said.
According to the sources, the former executives withheld some data on loan recipients when Tokyo metropolitan government officials conducted an inspection between Oct. 16 and Dec. 8 in 1998.
The union effectively went bankrupt in May 1999, with liabilities exceeding assets by 53.4 billion yen.
A pro-Pyongyang chamber of commerce in Japan aims to establish a new financial institution to take over the operations of Chogin Tokyo and other failed Chogin credit unions in the eastern Japan area.
The rehabilitation process is expected to require the injection of several hundred billion yen in public funds.
In September this year, the police inspected Chogin Kinki Credit Cooperative, a failed credit union based in Kobe, on suspicion it also attempted to conceal data during an inspection.