TOKYO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- A subsidiary of Japan's Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. was fined 10 million yen (88,100 U.S. dollars) by a Japanese court on Tuesday for illegally falsifying data related to its earthquake shock absorbers.
The Osaka Prefecture-based Hirakata Summary Court found that the entire operation of Toyo Chemical Industrial Products Co. was involved in rigging data and that its management did not stop the impropriety once it came to light.
Earthquake shock absorbers that were delivered to 154 facilities, including government buildings and condominiums, were found to be substandard, leading judge Tsukasa Hara to state, "The Toyo Tire unit not only impeded fair competition with other chemical makers but fueled distrust among the general public in seismic isolated buildings."
The judge demanded that efforts should be made by the company and its subsidiary "never to repeat such misconduct." And that contributions to society be made by making good products.
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., the parent company, on hearing the court's ruling said it would fully comply with the law henceforth.
"We take the ruling seriously and will fully comply with the law," the company was quoted as saying.
The court's ruling stated that executives at Toyo Tire's subsidiary deliberately changed documents so that its products would clear standards set by the infrastructure ministry.
Once the standards had been cleared, albeit falsely on paper, substandard shock absorber units were shipped in September 2014, in one of the cases, for use in the construction of a fire department in Hirakata, in Osaka, where the court handing down Tuesday's ruling is based.
