FINANCIAL NEGLIGENCE SINKS ELECTRICAL STALWART

Futsukaichi based O-Denki, having over a period of 60 years established itself as Kyushu's premier electrical supplier, has gone into receivership this week, leaving thousands jobless and no viable contingency plans. Although the company had been slowly losing money and influence since the end of the economy bubble, it took a bizarre turn of events to finish off the Company that was forged in the ruins of World War II. In a statement delivered yesterday at midday, the Chief Officer of the Futsukaichi Police Department, Masamitsu Metsumotsu, had the following to say:

"O-Denki has been shut down indefinitely after it was discovered that they owed close to a trillion and a half yen to a number of major banks. After further investigations, it is thought that much of the money owed was lost through the purchase of a pouch of magic beans ten years ago, although this is unsubstantiated. What is substantiated, however, is the fact that due to a clerical error in 1996, an umbrella shop owner from Omuta has been receiving a yearly Presidential salary of 200 million yen for 6 years, despite the fact that she is not the President of O-Denki and has never even left her home town. Naturally, we are doing all we can to investigate matters further."

It would appear that their fear of confrontation and losing face prevented O-Denki from taking action during the last 10 years, although Chief Officer Metsumotsu had to cut his statement short when a number of press members asked him to explain why his investigation had taken almost 4 years, and a further 2 billion yen of taxpayers money. As was expected, no one from O-Denki or the Futsukaichi Police Department were available for further comment.