Prosecutors Friday demanded a three-year prison term and a 5 million yen fine for Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the former chairman of Kokudo Corp. and Seibu Railway Co. who has pleaded guilty to charges of falsifying financial statements and insider trading.

The prosecutors also asked the Tokyo District Court to fine Seibu Railway 200 million yen and Kokudo 150 million yen for conduct violating the Securities and Exchange Law.

A prosecutor told Friday's session before presiding Judge Tsutomu Tochigi, "This is an unprecedented, vicious and crucial economic crime that was systematically committed by a leading conglomerate in Japan," referring to the Seibu group the defendant headed.

Tsutsumi played "a leading role" in the misdeeds even though "he should have exercised his leadership to solve problems" as chief of the Seibu conglomerate, the prosecutor said.

Tsutsumi, for his part, said, "I apologize for causing problems for many people."

His defense counsel requested leniency.

The ruling will be handed down Oct. 27. Tsutsumi, 71, stands accused of conspiring in June last year with the then president of Seibu Railway to give the Finance Ministry financial statements on Seibu that included a false list of shareholders.

Tsutsumi was also allegedly involved in Kokudo's sale of a large number of Seibu Railway shares to some of its business partners last September.

Seibu Railway made the false reports public the following month.

Tsutsumi pleaded guilty to the charges in June. The two firms, the other defendants in the trial, also pleaded guilty.