AIJ, ITM chiefs arrested over pension fund fraud

AIJ, ITM chiefs arrested over pension fund fraud

TOKYO, Japan - A police investigator brings in cardboard boxes for a search operation at the building housing the head offices of AIJ Investment Advisors Co. and ITM Securities Co., which is effectively under AIJ's control, in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on June 19, 2012. AIJ President Kazuhiko Asakawa and others, including ITM president, were arrested the same day in connection with a high-profile fraud allegation over losses of more than 100 billion yen in pension assets entrusted to AIJ, police said.

AIJ chief testifies

AIJ chief testifies

TOKYO, Japan - AIJ Investment Advisors Co. President Kazuhiko Asakawa testifies as a sworn witness over the asset management firm's pension asset loss scandal at the House of Representatives financial affairs committee on April 13, 2012.

AIJ head at lower house committee

AIJ head at lower house committee

TOKYO, Japan - Kazuhiko Asakawa, president of AIJ Investment Advisors Co., speaks in Tokyo on March 27, 2012, at a session of the House of Representatives' Committee on Financial Affairs. The session addressed the asset management firm's loss of pension funds it was entrusted to manage. Only 8.1 bil. yen remains of the 145.8 bil. yen entrusted to AIJ.

Parties involved in AIJ scandal

Parties involved in AIJ scandal

TOKYO, Japan - In Tokyo on March 27, 2012, (from L to R) Kazuhiko Asakawa, president of AIJ Investment Advisors Co., Hideaki Nishimura, president of ITM Securities Co. which is effectively under AIJ's control, and Isao Ishiyama, a retiree of the now-defunct Social Insurance Agency who currently operates a pension fund consultancy, sit at a session of the House of Representatives' Committee on Financial Affairs which addressed AIJ's loss of assets it had been managing on behalf of pension funds. They were three of the five witnesses to testify at the lower house's committee.

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi (front) speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting in the Diet building in Tokyo on March 23, 2012. He said that AIJ Investment Advisors Co. has been stripped of its registration as an investment adviser. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission raided AIJ's head office among other locations the same day over missing pension funds under the firm's care.

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

TOKYO, Japan - Officials of the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission enter the building housing AIJ Investment Advisors Co. in Tokyo on March 23, 2012, to investigate the disappearance of pension funds under the firm's care.

Corporate pension manager AIJ

Corporate pension manager AIJ

TOKYO, Japan - A lawyer for corporate pension fund manager AIJ Investment Advisors Co. speaks with reporters on the first floor of the building housing the office of the company in Tokyo's Nihombashi district on Feb. 24, 2012, after the Financial Services Agency ordered the company to suspend its business for one month earlier in the day on suspicion that it has lost most of its clients' money totaling about 210 billion yen. The lawyer declined to comment, citing ongoing investigations by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission.

Gov't orders AIJ to suspend business

Gov't orders AIJ to suspend business

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi announces in a press conference at the Diet building in Tokyo on Feb. 24, 2012, that the ministry has ordered corporate pension fund manager AIJ Investment Advisors Co. to suspend its business for one month on suspicion that it has lost most of its clients' money, totaling about 210 billion yen.

Corporate pension manager AIJ

Corporate pension manager AIJ

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Feb. 24, 2012, shows the building housing the office of corporate pension fund manager AIJ Investment Advisors Co. in Tokyo's Nihombashi district. The Financial Services Agency ordered the company to suspend its business for one month the same day, after finding that most of the fund managed by AIJ, totaling about 210 billion yen, is missing.

AIJ chief testifies

AIJ chief testifies

TOKYO, Japan - AIJ Investment Advisors Co. President Kazuhiko Asakawa testifies as a sworn witness over the asset management firm's pension asset loss scandal at the House of Representatives financial affairs committee on April 13, 2012. (Kyodo)

AIJ head at lower house committee

AIJ head at lower house committee

TOKYO, Japan - Kazuhiko Asakawa, president of AIJ Investment Advisors Co., speaks in Tokyo on March 27, 2012, at a session of the House of Representatives' Committee on Financial Affairs. The session addressed the asset management firm's loss of pension funds it was entrusted to manage. Only 8.1 bil. yen remains of the 145.8 bil. yen entrusted to AIJ. (Kyodo)

Parties involved in AIJ scandal

Parties involved in AIJ scandal

TOKYO, Japan - In Tokyo on March 27, 2012, (from L to R) Kazuhiko Asakawa, president of AIJ Investment Advisors Co., Hideaki Nishimura, president of ITM Securities Co. which is effectively under AIJ's control, and Isao Ishiyama, a retiree of the now-defunct Social Insurance Agency who currently operates a pension fund consultancy, sit at a session of the House of Representatives' Committee on Financial Affairs which addressed AIJ's loss of assets it had been managing on behalf of pension funds. They were three of the five witnesses to testify at the lower house's committee. (Kyodo)

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

TOKYO, Japan - Officials of the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission enter the building housing AIJ Investment Advisors Co. in Tokyo on March 23, 2012, to investigate the disappearance of pension funds under the firm's care. (Kyodo)

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

AIJ raided over missing pension funds

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi (front) speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting in the Diet building in Tokyo on March 23, 2012. He said that AIJ Investment Advisors Co. has been stripped of its registration as an investment adviser. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission raided AIJ's head office among other locations the same day over missing pension funds under the firm's care. (Kyodo)

Gov't orders AIJ to suspend business

Gov't orders AIJ to suspend business

TOKYO, Japan - Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi announces in a press conference at the Diet building in Tokyo on Feb. 24, 2012, that the ministry has ordered corporate pension fund manager AIJ Investment Advisors Co. to suspend its business for one month on suspicion that it has lost most of its clients' money, totaling about 210 billion yen. (Kyodo)

Corporate pension manager AIJ

Corporate pension manager AIJ

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Feb. 24, 2012, shows the building housing the office of corporate pension fund manager AIJ Investment Advisors Co. in Tokyo's Nihombashi district. The Financial Services Agency ordered the company to suspend its business for one month the same day, after finding that most of the fund managed by AIJ, totaling about 210 billion yen, is missing. (Kyodo)

Corporate pension manager AIJ

Corporate pension manager AIJ

TOKYO, Japan - A lawyer for corporate pension fund manager AIJ Investment Advisors Co. speaks with reporters on the first floor of the building housing the office of the company in Tokyo's Nihombashi district on Feb. 24, 2012, after the Financial Services Agency ordered the company to suspend its business for one month earlier in the day on suspicion that it has lost most of its clients' money totaling about 210 billion yen. The lawyer declined to comment, citing ongoing investigations by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission. (Kyodo)