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Technology Stocks : Deswell Industries (DSWL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kolo55 who wrote (1044)	10/13/1998 10:46:00 PM
From: Terrapin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1418

Here's a post on the Mita Bankruptcy. It's bad but doesn't give specifics regarding Mita HongKong: Tuesday October 13, 3:57 pm Eastern Time Mita Industrial Offices Searched TOKYO (AP) -- Police on Tuesday arrested six former officials of Mita Industrial Co. on charges of paying dividends illegally to shareholders to hide its financial difficulties. Mita Industrial, which made copy machines, sought court protection from its creditors in August with debts of more than 200 billion yen ($1.7 billion). It is now being restructured under Japan's corporate rehabilitation law. A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said those arrested included former president Yoshihiro Mita, 59, and Kunihiro Murai, 58, a certified public accountant and the company auditor. Earlier Tuesday, police raided Mita Industrial offices. The official said the company posted no profits last year, but paid dividends totaling 250 million yen ($2.1 million) to 18 shareholders, including Yoshihiro Mita, in February and April of this year. Police and prosecutors will question the six on whether there were other so-called window-dressing payments in past years. Japan's commercial code bars companies from paying dividends when they make no profits. Violations are punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of 5 million yen ($42,000), the police official said. Police began an investigation after bankruptcy administrator Makoto Miyazaki discovered the dividend payments and took legal action against former president Mita, the official said. He declined to discuss details, but Kyodo News service reported that Mita Industrial had paid dividends totaling 1.13 billion yen ($9.5 million) to shareholders in the five years ended November 1997. Mita's earnings were hurt by the weakening of the yen, the national currency, in recent years. The company piled up debts as it failed to trim its work force of 3,600 despite falling sales. Mita Industrial, an unlisted company founded in 1948, had sales of 100 billion yen ($840 million) in the year ended November 1997.