Four people, including the former president of a Mitsubishi Materials Corp. subsidiary, were arrested Friday for allegedly collecting about 110 million yen in government subsidies by falsifying data on waste water, police said.
The arrests came after investigators earlier in the day began questioning officials of Hosokura Kogyo, a pollution management firm based in Uguisuzawa, Miyagi Prefecture.
Those arrested, including former President Toshio Suganuma, 67, allegedly pocketed subsidies to treat waste water for fiscal 2000 and 2001 and dumped the lead-laden water into a river, claiming it met environmental standards, according to investigations.
Mitsubishi Materials owns the subsidiary, which is in charge of controlling pollution at the closed Hosokura lead and zinc mine in Uguisuzawa.
The case surfaced in May when the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry received an anonymous tip. Police searched Hosokura Kogyo's offices in January.