May have placed unauthorized orders for ¥400 million worth of QUO gift cards using a subsidiary’s name; UTグループ discloses former employee’s wrongdoing, says it “takes the matter seriously”

UTグループ announced that a former employee had exceeded the legitimate authority of UTエイム, to which the employee had been seconded, and ordered and received QUO cards worth ¥400 million from a subsidiary of business partner ヒューマンクリエイションホールディングス for personal misappropriation. The matter was discovered on 5 October, and the facts were confirmed through a related investigation.

ヒューマンクリエイションホールディングス said that, following an approach from an UTエイム employee regarding a transaction through コスモピア, it purchased and delivered QUO cards worth ¥400 million in total in August and September, but received no payment. UTエイム said the transaction had not been authorized. UTグループ said it would cooperate with the investigation and plans to recognize an extraordinary loss, as it has no clear prospect of recovering the outstanding amount.

UTグループ announced that it had established an internal investigation committee, apologized to those involved, and would strengthen governance and compliance and step up employee training. ヒューマンクリエイションホールディングス, meanwhile, is investigating the matter to establish the full facts and consider measures to prevent a recurrence, and indicated that recovering the full ¥400 million may be difficult at this stage.