The former head of a Vietnamese subsidiary of Zeon, a Tokyo chemical maker, has been summarily indicted on a charge of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act after paying bribes worth about ¥1.1 million to Vietnamese customs officials, NHK reported.
Prosecutors say he paid the money to have the additional tax he owed in Vietnam reduced. The summary indictment — a procedure that ends a case without a full trial — was reported on Wednesday.
The Unfair Competition Prevention Act covers bribery of foreign public officials, so the case turns on conduct by a Japanese company's overseas unit. The source gives no further detail on the amount of tax involved, when the payments were made, or how the former head responded to the charge.