Okinawa Defense Bureau continues contracting security company after learning of 740 million yen over-charge
One year after the start of seawall construction at Henoko. The seawall will extend as construction for Camp Schwab continues. April 24, Henoko, Nago (photograph taken by drone)
April 25, 2018 Ryukyu Shimpo
Tokyo – It was learned on April 24 that the security contractor awarded the contract to patrol and secure the ocean area designated by the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) for new military base construction in Henoko, Nago City, overcharged by 740 million yen.
The information was disclosed by a whistle-blower to the ODB.
This over-charge was reduced after revising the contract, however The Ministry of Defense singed an additional service contract with the same security company that ran through last year, for which the Board of Audit of Japan (BoA) indicated the security contractor over-charged as well. Even after learning of the over-charge, the contract continued at the original stated price.
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera explained at a press conference April 24, “The situation is currently being handled appropriately, but of course, at the previous time it was not.”
The security company in question is Rising Sun Security Service in Shibuya, Tokyo.
The ODB opened bidding for temporary facility construction in June of 2014, and the Taisei Corporation won the contract with a bid priced at 5.96 billion yen that included security, for which they commissioned Rising Sun.
It appears Rising Sun padded their security expenses.
According to the Ministry of Defense, in January of 2016 a whistle-blower reported the fraud, revealing the overages.
In March of the same year, the ODB and Taisei Corporation revised the contract to eliminate the 740 million yen over-charge.
Also, in a separate bid for maritime security in 2015-2016, the ODB accepted only the estimate from Rising Sun, awarding them the contract.
In November of last year, the BoA indicated that the company was overstating their personnel expenses by about 190 million yen, and requested that the Ministry of Defense rectify the situation.
The Rising Sun explained to Ryukyu Shimpo reporters that as part of the sub-contract with Taisei, the money was treated as a temporary advance.
They said that at the end of the contract a “thorough audit is properly done,” and that this should not really be considered an over-charge.
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)
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