Livedoor CEO Could Face New Charges

This week, Takafumi Horie, former chief executive officer of Japanese Internet firm Livedoor, and a number of other company executives could face additional charges of falsifying financial results in relation to the late January scandal that drastically dropped the company’s stocks and threatened to delist it from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, BBC News reports.

Prosecutors allege that the company executives altered profit amounts in 2003 and 2004 to show a gain instead of the loss that was the reality, according to BBC News.

Horie, who has been in police custody since late January, and four other executives are to be indicted on Tuesday, BBC News reports. The former chief will face charges of breaking securities laws, according to BBC News.

The executives have also been accused of lying about financial information regarding a 2004 company takeover, BBC News reports.

Horie is well-known in Japan for his critical and controversial views of the country’s corporate establishment, according to BBC News.

For the charges of breaking securities laws, Horie faces up to five years in prison and fines equaling 5 million yen (roughly $42,000), BBC News reports.

The Livedoor Victims’ Association has been formed by more than 1,000 company investors in hopes of retrieving the 5.2 billion yen (roughly $44 million) they claim to have lost because of the scandal, according to BBC News. The group plans on filing legal action against Livedoor if it is unable to reach a reimbursement agreement with the company, BBC News reports.

Livedoor shares have plunged to roughly 10 percent of what they were before the January scandal became public, according to BBC News.

For related news coverage, read Livedoor CEO Charged and Livedoor CEO Steps Down.

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