4 ex-employees of a sister company of Yamato Transport Corporation, a well-known delivery company in Japan, were arrested by authorities on November 22, 2006 because they allegedly gambled on professional baseball games on the premises of the company where they were employed. Authorities said that the 4 on-duty delivery van drivers from both of the Kyoto and Osaka branches of Yamato Unyu Delivery Company placed bets on their favorite baseball teams via their cellular phones.
The betting activities were initiated by another employee of the company about 10 years ago. Approximately 100 million yen in total wagers by the employees were collected over the past years. Parts of these wagers were used to finance further gambling activities outside company jurisdiction.
Prosecutors of the case received papers that implicate 9 other company employees in the on-going investigation of the case. The 4 suspects in the case were arrested and fired by the company along with the manager of the company branch in Osaka. The 4 suspects are 61 year old, Yoshinori Kato, a former Deputy Manager of the Yamato Unyu Delivery Company in Osaka, 33 year old Tadashi Kato, a son of Yoshinori Kato and the Section Chief of Sales at the Osaka Branch, and 50 year old Shinichi Ogawa, the former Section Chief of Sales at the Kyoto Branch. All 4 suspects have already been indicted before the court.
December 17, 2006
Nancy Parker