In a further setback to the troubled Mitsubishi Motors Corp., police last week arrested seven former MMC executives in connection with a 2002 fatal truck accident allegedly caused by defective wheel hubs. The seven, including Mr. Takashi Usami, former MMC vice president and former chairman of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp., are suspected of presenting false accident reports to the government and of professional negligence resulting in death and injury.
The arrests highlight an unfolding criminal investigation into what police see as a systematic effort by MMC to cover up safety problems. Investigators say the company also submitted false reports in 2001 despite the fact that it had been fined for concealing customer complaints about vehicle defects. The Kanagawa Prefectural Police, which arrested the seven, described these coverups as "malicious."
The accident occurred on a road in Yokohama on Jan. 10, 2002. Investigations have revealed that one of the front wheels of a running MMC trailer came off and hit Mrs. Shiho Okamoto, a 29-year-old housewife, who was walking by the road with her two children. The woman was killed and the two boys were injured.