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Report: Kobe Steel CEO to resign over data fabrication scandal

Kobe Steel Ltd. CEO and Chairman Hiroya Kawasaki is set to resign as a result of quality control lapses that resulted in the supply of substandard materials to various companies, people familiar with the issue told the Nikkei Asian Review.

Akira Kaneko, head of Kobe Steel's aluminum and copper division, will also step down, along with other executives. A few dozen middle managers face pay reductions, reassignments or other actions, the Nikkei reported March 6.

The scandal, which covered aluminum, copper, steel and other products, affected some of Japan's biggest automakers including Honda Motor, Mazda Motor and Toyota Motor, as well as bullet train operators JR Tokai and JR West.

Kobe Steel is expected to announce the personnel changes March 6 but Kawasaki, who is also president, will give up his seat on the company's board in June. The company has yet to name Kawasaki's successor.

The scandal, which broke out in October 2017, revealed falsification of data in Kobe's steel and machinery divisions as well as attempts to cover up problems at some of Kobe's production sites. More than 500 companies were supplied metal that failed to meet specifications.

In 2016, a Kobe Steel affiliate, Shinko Wire Stainless, was also found to have falsified quality data, and the unit lost its Japanese Industrial Standards certification for steel wire used to make springs.