Japan Consulting Firm Pays Rebates Abroad over ODA Projects

Tokyo, March 20 (Jiji Press)--Japan Transportation Consultants Inc. paid a total of about 100 million yen in kickbacks in Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan in 2008-2012 over projects covered by Japan's official development assistance, it was learned Thursday. This came to light through a probe by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau. In the probe, the Tokyo-based railway consulting firm did not reveal who had received the rebates. The money was recognized as unexplained expenditures by the tax bureau. The tax office imposed some 40 million yen in surcharge, as well as corporate tax, on the funds, sources familiar with the matter said. Japan Transportation Consultants is believed to have filed a corrected tax report and paid the taxes. If the kickbacks are found to have paid to civil servants in the three countries, that could constitute a violation of Japan's unfair competition prevention law. In Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan, Japan Transportation Consultants received orders for research for railway construction projects backed by Japan's ODA. The firm booked the kickbacks as expenses such as commission fees, according to the sources. Japan Transportation Consultants was established in 1958 to conduct surveys and designing related to railway construction. It has been actively doing business in overseas markets as demand in Japan has been shrinking since hitting peak in the 1990s. END