Prosecutors to raid Kobe Steel for data tampering-media
TOKYO, May 31 (Reuters) -
* Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are set to raid Kobe Steel Ltd’s headquarters and production facilities in relation to its data tampering scandal, media reported on Thursday.
* Kobe Steel admitted in March its data fraud has been going on nearly five decades and also revealed new cases of cheating. Japan’s third-biggest steelmaker said its CEO will step down to take responsibility for the scandal that came to light last year.
* A Kobe Steel spokesman said on Thursday the company had no comment beyond its admission in late April that it was under investigation by Japanese authorities over the data tampering. The company is also under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.
* A spokeswoman for the Prosecutors Office said it does not comment on its ongoing investigations in general.
* The company’s shares were down 0.6 percent by 0013 GMT, compared with a 0.5 percent gain in Nikkei share average. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; editing by Richard Pullin)