42 Japan Firms Engage in Bid-Rigging over Condo Repair Work

Tokyo, Sept. 28 (Jiji Press)--The Japan Fair Trade Commission recognized Monday that 42 companies had engaged in bid-rigging for large-scale repair contracts for condominiums, imposing fines totaling about 1.6 billion yen on 37 of the firms.

The malpractice was found for repair work contracts for 171 condominium buildings in Tokyo and six prefectures around the Japanese capital.

It was the first time for the JFTC to impose administrative punishment over large-scale condominium repair contracts. The commission also issued cease-and-desist orders to 38 of the 42 firms.

Two of the 42 firms are repair work consultation companies--Renosys Corp. in the western city of Osaka and Tokyo-based Sho-Sekkei Co. Among the other 40 construction companies are Haseko Reform Inc. and Shimizu BLC, both based in Tokyo.

Of the 37 fined companies, Ikatsu in Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, was slapped with the largest amount of penalty, at about 380 million yen.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]