Japanese prosecutors today indicted Kobe Steel after it admitted to faking strength and quality data, one of the latest corporate scandals that have battered the country's reputation for quality.
Japan's third largest steelmaker was charged with violating the country's unfair competition law in relation to data falsification up to September 2017, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office said in a statement.
In October last year Kobe Steel said its employees had misrepresented strength and quality data, which had been submitted for products sold to hundreds of clients worldwide.
It was the latest in a string of revelations to have undermined faith in 'Japan Inc'.
Local media reported that prosecutors have no plan to indict individual employees involved in the scandal at Kobe.
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"We are taking this matter brought against us very seriously," the firm said in a statement apologising for the indictment.
"The entire Kobe Steel Group is working together sincerely and straightforwardly to carry out the preventive measures and is making every effort to restore trust," it added.
The products affected by the scandal included steel wires used in car engines and tyres, as well as aluminium used to manufacture Japan's famous bullet trains.
It was just one of a long line of revelations that have rocked the nation's manufacturing industry after similar quality-control scandals hit industrial titans ranging from carmaker Nissan to Mitsubishi Materials.
Last month an affiliate of Japanese electronics giant Hitachi admitted it had falsified data for 60,000 industrial batteries.
Prosecutors and police raided Kobe's headquarters last month, after the company, founded in 1905, said its misconduct over some of its quality controls traces back to the 1970s.
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