What appears be a blatant case of embezzlement at a Saitama office of Japan Highway Public Corp. was hushed up last year -- an episode that observers say illustrates how the heavily indebted corporation, now at the center of a privatization debate, pays little heed to the fact that it is dealing with public funds.
An official at Japan Highway's Urawa Construction Office was pressured by his superiors to resign in September 2001 after they found out that he had paid 6 million yen of the corporation's funds for what was actually a 1.3 million yen purchase of office supplies at the end of fiscal 2000, and allegedly pocketed the 4.7 million yen difference returned by the supplier.
The identity of the man and the supplier have been confirmed by The Japan Times but are being withheld.