NHK president resigns over latest scandal

Written by Mark Schilling
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Story Categories: Japan, NHK, People, TV, TOKYO -- NHK prexy Genichi Hashimoto has resigned over an insider trading scandal, NHK announced on Monday. Hashimoto told reporters that the pubcaster has "damaged the trust of viewers." Two reporters and one director, all from different NHK broadcasting outlets, are accused of using an NHK online editing system to get advance info about restaurant chain Zensho's acquisition of a chain of sushi shops on March 8. Snapping up 1,000 to 3,000 Zensho shares minutes before the story broke, the trio reaped profits amounting from Y100,000 ($943) to $3,774. Two of the three have already fessed up, while one is still denying his culpability to government investigators. NHK is now conducting an internal investigation of all 11,000 employees to see if any others have taken illicit stock market plunges. Hashimoto was skedded to step down on January 25, to be succeeded by Shigeo Fukuchi, a senior advisor to the Asahi Beer company, but resigned four days early to take responsibility for the scandal. Under Hashimoto's three-year reign NHK has been rocked by a series of scandals, most involving producers pocketing funds, that have inspired thousands of viewers to stop paying supposedly mandatory NHK licensing fees in protest.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 January 2008 )