Former Takefuji Corp. Chairman Yasuo Takei was sentenced Wednesday to a suspended three-year prison term for wiretapping and defamation of character.
The Tokyo District Court also fined Takefuji 1 million yen for violating the Telecommunications Business Law in the wiretapping.
Takei, the 74-year-old founder of the moneylender, pleaded guilty to ordering a subordinate in 2000 and 2001 to bug the phones of two freelance journalists who had written articles criticizing the major consumer loan firm.