Thred: I don't know of the head of a central bank ending his life anytime in the 20th century.
This is getting worse and worse if it is true.
For Private Use only:
5/1/98 -- 9:12 PM
Central Bank chief director reportedly commits suicide
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOKYO (AP) - The top executive of Japan's scandal-plagued central bank hanged himself Saturday, the latest in a series of suicides by government bureaucrats, the national television station reported.
The Bank of Japan's Chief Director Takayuki Kamoshida, 58, was found around 3 a.m. hanging from a cord in a Tokyo apartment, NHK said.
Kamoshida was in charge of efforts to root out corruption at the central bank and to punish employees involved in bribery scandals, NHK said. He was not reported to be a target of any corruption investigation.
He is the fourth official this year to commit suicide amid a widening investigation into the activities of Japanese officials.
Central bank officials and police were not immediately available for comment.
Japan's financial world was shaken in March when a corruption probe into the country's powerful bureaucracies reached the central bank. A bank official was arrested for allegedly accepting bribes from financial institutions.
The central bank had long been considered immune to scandal and had never been the subject of a criminal investigation. Yasuo Matsushita, head of the bank, resigned to take responsibility for the scandal.
The head of Japan's highway authority killed himself in January as prosecutors investigated his agency after arresting a subordinate for allegedly accepting bribes.
Days later, a finance ministry official hanged himself just as he was about to be questioned about the lavish perks he received from banks.
In February, a governing party lawmaker hanged himself after prosecutors accused of accepting illegal stock profits.
Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
