The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling and fined Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and three former executives ¥200,000 each for falsifying documents on its defective truck hubs, which caused a fatal accident in 2002.
The court found MMC, former Vice President Takashi Usami, 67, former Executive Director Akio Hanawa, 67, and board member Tadashi Koshikawa, 65, guilty of fabricating a report filed with the transport ministry.
In handing down the ruling, presiding Judge Toshio Nagai said the defendants reported that the deficiencies in its truck hubs were caused by improper maintenance even though they were aware of the possibility of a design failure in the production line.