Three Toyota officials are under criminal investigation on suspicion of professional negligence for allegedly not issuing vehicle recalls for eight years and not fixing a defect that might have caused an accident, police said Tuesday.
Toyota Motor Corp. said the officials did not do anything wrong. The automaker said in a statement it was cooperating fully with the investigation.
The Kumamoto Prefectural Police turned their case over to prosecutors on Tuesday, a police spokesman said. The three Toyota officials, ages 62, 58 and 55, oversee quality control, the spokesman said. Their names were not disclosed.