Prosecutors on Monday questioned three former executives of UFJ Bank on suspicion of obstructing a government inspection, according to investigative sources.
It was the first time the three former executives, including Sen Hayakawa and former Vice President Kazuyoshi Okazaki, who was in charge of screening loans, had been questioned since the Financial Services Agency filed a criminal complaint earlier this month with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office against them and the bank.
The three, who are under indictment, told the FSA they never intended to destroy or conceal vital documents during the FSA's August 2003 inspection.
The allegations of obstructing the inspection surfaced in October 2003, when FSA inspectors discovered a huge number of hidden cardboard boxes containing documents pertaining to the bank's large-lot borrowers.
It was also known that the bank, a core unit of UFJ Holdings Inc., tampered with minutes of executive meetings and documents that indicated there were serious concerns about the financial standings of major borrowers.