Tokyo resuming probe into alleged bribery of RF officials

TOKYO, January 11 (Itar-Tass) - The Japanese government is resuming
the investigation of alleged giving bribes by Japanese fishing companies
to Russian officials for exceeding the quotas of fish catches in the
exclusive economic zone of Russia. Japanese Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry Michihiko Kano said at a press conference in Tokyo
on Tuesday. He did not comment on the forms of the investigation, however,
to all appearances, it will be conducted in the form of so-called
voluntary interviews of the leadership of four fishing companies that are
suspected of bribing Russian officials.
On December 28, they have already given preliminary evidence on this
score to Japanese authorities. If the data on bribery are confirmed, the
caught firms are facing revocation of the license to fish.
At the end of last year, the Japanese Tax Agency found that four
Japanese fishing companies concealed a total of 500 million yen (over 6
million US dollars) from their income in 2007-2009. The companies'
official reportedly confessed that the money had been paid to Russian
officials for illegally exceeding the catch quota in the exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) of Russia. The money, according to the press, was
given directly to Russian observers on board of inspected trawlers or
transferred to bank accounts, including in Cyprus.
Tax officials have already made the companies pay fines and surcharges
amounting to 200 million yen (about 2.4 million US dollars). Now the
Fisheries Agency of Japan may adopt its own punitive measures if it is
determined that fishing firms in violation of local laws failed to comply
with the terms of an intergovernmental agreement between Moscow and Tokyo
on catch quotas in the exclusive zone of the Russian Federation. Companies
also face charges of violating the law on the prevention of unfair
competition.
Earlier, representatives of a number of other fishing companies in
Japan have admitted to the Yomiuri newspaper that they have also
repeatedly bribed RF officials to illegally increase their catch in the
exclusive economic zone of Russia. Some reportedly continue such
corruption practices also now, according to a survey involving 10 unnamed
presidents and other head of the companies registered on the Hokkaido
Island and in the northeast of the main Japanese island of Honshu,
published by the newspaper.
These people claim that bribes are given to observers from the Russian
border guard service who control on trawlers the observance of the rules
of catch and quotas agreed upon between the two countries. According to
the interviewees, for illegally exceeding the quotas they paid to Russian
officials some 35,000 US dollars per year. One of presidents of fishing
companies stressed that in return he is allowed to catch fish two-three
times above the set quota. The interviewees are engaged in the fishing of
walleye pollack, salmon and saury in the area of the Kuril Islands and the
Bering Sea.
According to Yomiuri, accounts at financial institutions in Cyprus and
another country were used to transfer some of the about 500 million yen
believed to have been paid to Russian border guards by four Japanese
fishery companies, informed sources said. The remittances were part of
efforts by the Japanese corporations to ensure the guards looked the other
way while the firms fished for walleye pollack in excess of a catch quota
set in Japan-RF fishery talks, officials from the firms were quoted as
telling the National Tax Agency. The cash is believed to have eventually
been paid to Russian government officials.
The latest revelation follows reports that the four fishery companies
operating in Russia's EEZ had provided officials from that country's
border security bureau with a total of about 500 million yen in alleged
backdoor payments. The accounts are kept in corporate names. The four
corporations are Wakkanai Kaiyo in Wakkanai, Hokkaido; Kanai Gyogyo in
Kushiro, Hokkaido; Kaiyo Gyogyo in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture; and Sato
Gyogyo in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. These companies caught walleye
pollack from the Bering Sea and other waters, landed them at Kushiro Port
in Hokkaido and sold them at fish markets. Part of the sale proceeds was
sent overseas, several officials from the firms were cited as telling the
Sapporo and Sendai regional taxation bureaus.
An audit investigation by the tax authorities has confirmed that the
money was remitted to the accounts at financial institutions overseas,
including Cyprus, which has deep financial relations with Russia,
according to the sources. The latest revelation indicates that the fishery
corporations worked to get away with their over-limit fishing through
massive payments to border-guard inspectors from Russia.
The officials gave The Yomiuri Shimbun some details of their firms'
massive payments. One official said his company had transferred money on
several occasions. Its payments included tens of millions of yen remitted
at one time. He also said the payments had been arranged with the help of
a Japanese broker familiar with Russian affairs. Another official said
such payments were intended to have RF border guards tolerate his firm's
over-limit fishing and even help its fishing boats escape being caught by the Russian authorities.
-0-ezh/ast