The president of scandal-hit AIJ Investment Co., Kazuhiko Asakawa, admitted Tuesday in the Diet that he had covered losses in corporate pension funds and promised false returns to lure clients.

Making his first public appearance since the firm's massive losses of pension funds came to light last month, Asakawa told a Diet committee he didn't initially intend to report padded figures for AIJ's corporate pension fund assets.

As AIJ head, Asakawa, a former manager at Nomura Holdings Inc., attracted pension funds by promising high returns. The firm reportedly vowed a 241 percent return on one fund invested in Nikkei 225 options.