Kobe Steel Reports 9 More Cases of Data Fraud

Kobe Steel Ltd. says falsified materials performance reports by its metalmaking operations occurred in China, Malaysia and Thailand as well as five facilities in Japan.

The growing scandal now involves aluminum, copper, iron and steel products supplied to 500 customers worldwide. On Friday the company acknowledged nine new cases of bogus materials being shipped between 2007 and 2017.

Last week when the cheating was first announced, Kobe CEO Hiroya Kawaski indicated the problem involved 200 of the company’s customers and only 4% of its total sales.

Kawasaki tells reporters the new cases of doctored documents weren’’t revealed earlier because the issue had been resolved between Kobe and affected customers. He did not explain why the fraud occurred at so many locations.