Crime & Courts

FSA Inspects Bigmotor, Sompo Japan over Insurance Fraud Scandal

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Financial Services Agency investigators entering Bigmotor in Tama in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Jiji Press

10:59 JST, September 20, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Financial Services Agency launched on-site inspections Tuesday of scandal-hit Bigmotor Co. and its business partner Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. as part of an investigation into fraudulent auto insurance claims by the major used car dealer.

FSA inspectors entered Sompo Japan’s head office in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward and a Bigmotor outlet in Tama City Tuesday morning. The inspection is expected to take several months.

At a press conference after the day’s cabinet meeting, financial services minister Shunichi Suzuki said the FSA intends to “carry out an in-depth fact-finding investigation in order to identify the root cause of the problem.”

Bigmotor has been found to have inflated insurance claims by deliberately damaging vehicles customers left in its care for repairs.