Prudential Life to Halt New Policy Sales for 90 Days after Fraud

Tokyo, Feb. 4 (Jiji Press)--Prudential Life Insurance Co. said Wednesday it will suspend new policy sales for 90 days in response to a large-scale fraud scandal that came to light last month.

The insurer said the decision was made to prioritize overhauling governance and sales practices following the scandal, in which over 100 employees were found to have improperly received about 3.1 billion yen in total from roughly 500 customers over more than 30 years. Some of them collected the money by pitching investments in cryptocurrency and other assets, while others failed to return funds entrusted to them for investment purposes.

Sales activities will be suspended starting Monday. The period through Sunday will be used for preparations leading up to the suspension, during which employees are required to submit activity reports.

Prudential Life said it set the suspension period at 90 days by taking into account the time likely to be needed to swiftly implement priority measures, including enhanced governance, internal reviews and employee training.

The company also said Kan Mabara, who stepped down as president effective Sunday, will not assume a previously planned advisory role. He has retired upon his resignation as president and will not be involved in any business operations of the company in any capacity, it said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]