Is there a 190 million yen fraudulent loan at the Hokkaido Community Chest of Japan, or is the purpose of concealing unaccounted for money?

Hokkaido Community Chest of Japan (Sapporo City), the social welfare corporation that operates the Red Feather Community Chest, has a problem in which approximately 180 million yen is unaccounted for, and an interview with the organization revealed on the 18th that the former secretary general (58), who was in charge of accounting, had fraudulently borrowed at least 190 million yen from two financial institutions in the prefecture, falsifying approval from the board of directors. It appears that this was an attempt to hide a lack of funds due to unaccounted for money, and the association is consulting with investigative authorities to pursue criminal charges.

According to the association, the former executive director, who was fired in July, received loans of 100 million yen and 90 million yen from two financial institutions last year, respectively, without obtaining the necessary approval from the board of directors.

Of this amount, the 90 million yen loan was borrowed in the spring for three consecutive years starting in 2023, and was repaid within each fiscal year. The association found in his desk a copy of the minutes dated April 28 last year, which were said to have been approved by the board of directors. In fact, no board meeting was held on that day, and the handwriting of the president's signature was different from that of the president himself. The association believes that the document submitted to the financial institution was forged, and that the same method was used when borrowing 100 million yen from another institution.

The association plans to consider setting up a third-party committee comprised of lawyers and others to uncover the full extent of the losses. In response to a request for correction from Sapporo City, an improvement report will be submitted soon. In order to prevent a recurrence, the company plans to appoint a new executive director with a background in financial institutions, and will consider compensation by executives for the shortfall in subsidy funds.