A former president of a Mitsubishi Materials Corp. subsidiary knew that its data was being fabricated but continued to ship the products in question, fearing that revealing the misconduct could lead to demands for redress and bankruptcy, an interim investigative report said Thursday.
The report also said a lack of compliance awareness resulted in irregularities at another group firm. The final report is expected around the end of February.
"I apologize from the bottom of my heart to our customers and stakeholders for the trouble caused," Mitsubishi Materials President Akira Takeuchi told a news conference in Tokyo.