Japan: 65 social welfare entities cites for mismanagement of funds and fraud

The Yomiuri Shimbun Between fiscal 2009 and 2013, 65 social welfare corporations nationwide were given guidance by 41 local governments on the basis of the Social Welfare Law to improve their operations over budget misuse by executive directors or receiving large amounts of pay without consulting with boards of directors, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.  The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to discuss reviewing the inspection system, saying, “It is possible that the boards of directors are not functioning appropriately.”

Social welfare corporations are nonprofit private-sector organizations established to run such institutions as special nursing homes for the elderly, as well as facilities for children and the disabled. There were about 20,000 such corporations nationwide as of the end of 2012, according to the health ministry.  The survey asked 109 municipalities, including Tokyo and other prefectures with ordinance-designated major cities, about their inspections of social welfare corporations as of the end of fiscal 2013. The Yomiuri Shimbun asked each municipality surveyed to disclose related internal information.  The results showed that at 65 corporations, board members used company funds for private purposes by misusing administrative budgets and receiving large amounts of money without consulting with the board of directors between fiscal 2009 and 2013. Of them, 29 corporations were ordered to reform operations based on the law by the end of fiscal 2013.

Source/more:  Japan News