The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Thursday it has ordered three companies to return fraudulently obtained government subsidies.
Open Future System Inc., a Tokyo-based computer software firm; Nihon Food Computer Systems, a computer management firm based in Kobe; and UCC Foods, a Tokyo-based beverage wholesaler affiliated with UCC Ueshima Coffee Co., were also ordered to pay penalty charges.
The ministry said it may also sue the companies for fraud.
According to the ministry's Kanto Bureau, the three firms illegally received about 26 million yen in subsidies in April 2002 in connection with a government program to promote investment in information technology.
They claimed to have developed a computer system for placing orders and shipments that could be operated by voice commands, the bureau said.
Open Future System received about 22.5 million yen in subsidies. It will be barred from applying for any METI subsidy programs for three years.
The other two will be barred for a year, it said.