A senior official at Nihon University's weightlifting club was found to have fraudulently collected school entrance and other fees from students joining the club and misappropriated most of the money, the private university has said.

The university uncovered the misconduct during its investigation into a different case.

It is now speeding up work to confirm the total amount of damage while considering legal actions against the senior official, such as filing a criminal complaint.

The case came on the heels of a series of problems that occurred at Nihon University, including a dangerous tackle and a drug scandal at its American football club, as well as a breach-of-trust incident involving former school executives, although it has been implementing reform measures in the wake of these issues.

According to the university, the senior weightlifting club official collected the full amounts of entrance and tuition fees from first-year scholarship students of the club who were exempted from paying all or part of the fees. The official lied to the parents and guardians of the students, using saying that the exemptions started during the second year.

The official had engaged in the malpractice for 10 years until last year and used most of the fraudulently collected money for private purposes.

The official has admitted to the wrongdoing in the university's investigation.

"We deeply apologize to affected students and their guardians," the university said, while noting that the weightlifting club will be allowed to continue its activities because there is no fault on the part of its member students over the incident.