method from now on and consider ways to prevent similar incidents."
On Tuesday, however, he said it is impossible for the government to file criminal complaints against the embezzlers now because of a seven-year statute of limitation.
"I am indignant that (the agency) has been lenient toward its own people, but I cannot violate the law (by taking action now)," he said.
Masuzoe is also disinclined toward filing damages suits against the former agency officials, saying that most of them returned the money they embezzled.
The agency filed criminal complaints against 27 of the 50 embezzlers, and 11 of them were eventually indicted by prosecutors.
Of these, an official of a social insurance office in Shizuoka Prefecture was given 16 months in prison in February 2006 for embezzling around ¥4 million.
In contrast, no criminal complaint was filed with investigation authorities against an official of a social insurance office in Fukushima Prefecture who embezzled around ¥5 million, although he was sacked in 1982.
After a series of scandals involving agency employees was exposed in 1999, then health minister Sohei Miyashita said the wrongdoing of all agency officials who were given disciplinary action would be publicly announced. The agency says every embezzlement case after that has been made public, with a criminal complaint filed against the embezzlers.
One official cited in Monday's report used his name card as a receipt when he collected pension premiums and pocketed the money.