Livedoor Young Gun Kumagai Snatched in Livedoor Scandal
Posted on: Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 12:00 CST
By Kyodo News International, Tokyo
Feb. 22--TOKYO -- Fumito Kumagai, Livedoor Co.'s 28-year-old representative director arrested Wednesday for alleged securities law violations, is said to have presided over all the Internet and financial services firm's accounting practices.
Prosecutors earlier questioned him along with other top executives but he was let off when they arrested then Livedoor President Takafumi Horie and three other company executives on Jan. 23.
When Livedoor announced a new management team the next day, Kumagai was promoted to the current post, the only board executive at Livedoor with powers to legally represent the company.
At that time, Kumagai said the company would make restructuring efforts. He spoke at a press conference flanked by new President Kozo Hiramatsu, who is not a Livedoor board member.
Kumagai's arrest has now cast a cloud over Livedoor's restructuring efforts. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is considering delisting the company over its alleged accounting fraud.
Born in 1977, Kumagai joined Livedoor in January 2001 after working at a securities company. The media started describing him as a young gun at the fast-growing Internet firm on the synergy of the increasing public exposure of Horie, 33, as representing a new, more vibrant style of business in Japan.
In August 2001, Kumagai was appointed a Livedoor vice president in charge of financial and accounting affairs and made board director in December 2004.
In the press conference Jan. 24, the day after the arrest of Horie and others, Kumagai admitted that Livedoor might have been involved in something "suspicious.""Many people in Livedoor have had limited experience in society and have often failed to understand the feelings of other people," he said.
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Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo
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