Nomura Holdings, a Japanese financial giant, announced on Thursday that a former employee from its brokerage unit was arrested for suspected fraud. The incident marks the latest in a series of scandals that have plagued the firm in the past year.
Yuta Cho, 30, who departed Nomura in June 2024, is facing fraud charges, as confirmed by Nomura's joint chief compliance officer, Shinichi Mizuno, during a briefing. The alleged fraudulent activities took place in January 2024, according to a statement released by Nomura.
Following a customer's report of the alleged fraud after Cho's departure, Nomura promptly engaged with the police, stated Toshiyasu Iiyama, Nomura's vice president and chief of staff, at the same briefing.
Media outlet Kyodo News previously reported that the suspect is accused of deceiving a woman in her 70s and embezzling 10 million yen ($65,700) by promising investment in an interest-bearing savings fund.
Mizuno and Iiyama refrained from specifying the charges due to the ongoing police inquiry but assured that no other customers were impacted by the purported fraud. Cho was unavailable for comment.
In a separate incident, another former Nomura employee faced charges, including attempted murder and robbery in November, leading to public statements from the company's leadership.
Moreover, in late October, Japan's banking regulator imposed a 21.8 million yen penalty on Nomura following an investigation that revealed a trader manipulated the price of 10-year bond government futures contracts in March 2021.
($1 = 152.2300 yen)