TOKYO (AP) — Fake business cards, impostors at meetings and forged documents stamped with the company seal are behind what appears to be an elaborate scam that Lehman Brothers in Japan claims bilked it of millions of dollars.
The accusations of fraud are at the center of a $350 million lawsuit Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed yesterday in Tokyo, which has ensnared one of the biggest names on Japan’s road to modernization and economic power — trading house Marubeni Corp.
Additional victims are popping up. And analysts say the unfolding scandal is a wake-up call about imperfect corporate governance and monitoring of rogue employees while this relatively insular nation is trying to attract foreign investment.
It is also a major embarrassment for Lehman, which is struggling to assuage investor worries that it doesn’t have the same problems as Bear Stearns Co., which is being bought by JP Morgan Chase & Co.
On Tuesday, Lehman said it had raised $4 billion in new capital to shore up its liquidity position.
But if the tale of massive deceit — as pieced together from various parties — is true, Marubeni appears headed for an even bigger embarrassment that could raise serious questions about its credibility, internal controls and corporate governance.
A person familiar with the case said Lehman was approached in August about investing in a health care business led by a man who was then the head of Asclepius Ltd., a little-known Tokyo medical consulting company, which has since gone bankrupt.
After Lehman invested about $350 million in a hospital-renovation project, it never got back more than a tiny part of the money it had been promised.
Lehman assumed the deal was backed by Marubeni because documents had the official company seal and meetings with Marubeni employees were at the company office, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because of the case’s sensitivity.
Marubeni denies it’s obligated to repay Lehman. It said two Marubeni employees, who have since been dismissed, were merely victims. At least one person who claimed to be a Marubeni official appears to have been an impostor with a fake business card, the person close to the case said.
Boston-based Aite Group senior analyst Phillip Silitschanu said the case shows Lehman must strengthen its risk controls.
A day after Lehman filed its suit, Medcajapan Co., a Japanese nursing care provider, said it lost $35 million lent to a project related to Asclepius that Medcajapan thought was backed by Marubeni.
FinTechGlobal Inc., a Japanese technology investor, said it may have been duped out of $22 million in a similar scheme involving Asclepius and Marubeni.
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