None were illegal, but they did put civil servants in awkward ethical territory and execs knew it Share
Copy
Japanese tech and telecoms giant NTT has temporarily slashed the pay of several top executives, to reprimand them for paying too much of the bill at $500-a-head lunches with government officials.
NTT is part-owned by Japan’s government and is also the nation’s dominant telco. Meetings with officials from the Ministry of Communications are therefore to be expected.
Local ethics rules don’t prohibit government officials dining with those they regulate. But NTT made the mistake of taking officials to very expensive restaurants Japanese media report the bill reached the equivalent of over $500 per person on some occasions and then paying most of the bill.