Controversy Over Fraudulent Claims at Megumi Disabled Care Facility
Headquarters Diverts Residents' Meal Fees
Ledger Manipulation to Receive Government Support
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Decides "Cancel All Business Licenses"
A company operating group homes for people with disabilities in Japan has been embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that they had been fraudulently inflating residents' meal expenses. When it was uncovered that the company provided substandard meals to residents while embezzling meal funds, the government took decisive action.
On the 27th, NHK and other outlets reported that Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare revoked the business licenses of 104 facilities operated by the company Megumi. Fraudulent activities were detected at 77 of the 104 facilities Megumi operates nationwide. The ministry judged that the headquarters was systematically involved in the fraud and applied a collective punishment policy banning the operation of all facilities. Consequently, the 104 facilities will be closed down sequentially.
Megumi had been praised for actively accepting people with severe intellectual disabilities who had been rejected by other facilities. However, starting in 2022, complaints began to emerge from families of residents at a facility in Aichi Prefecture, such as "the meal portions are too small" and "my child is always hungry." Even employees working at the facility revealed, "Because the money received from headquarters was insufficient, we could not properly purchase meal ingredients." Upon receiving these complaints, Aichi Prefecture launched an investigation and uncovered similar cases at several Megumi facilities within the prefecture.
It is known that Megumi headquarters instructed each facility to minimize meal expenses as much as possible. Megumi recorded the money received from residents' families as headquarters revenue, distributed a much smaller amount to each facility, and pocketed the difference as profit. At one facility housing 15 residents, about 400,000 yen (3.46 million KRW) per month was collected from families for meals, but the daily meal cost per person was only about 100 yen (866 KRW). One meal publicly revealed by the media consisted of a beef rice bowl with just a few pieces of onion and meat, or rice topped with a small amount of natto, sparking public outrage. An employee at the facility reportedly felt compelled to make rice balls at home and distribute them to residents.
Megumi also deliberately manipulated the number of staff to receive more government subsidies. Through interviews with employees, the Japanese media outlet Mainichi exposed that "there are sheets recording residents' wake-up times, sleep times, meal amounts, and medication intake, with the responsible staff's name and seal. Megumi forged seals of employees who had already resigned to manipulate the staff count." NHK also reported, "There were double books: actual work schedules at each facility and government-submitted work records managed by headquarters," and aired interviews with former employees who said, "Many days the actual staff deployment fell far short of government standards."
This issue has sparked major controversy in Japan, where there are many care facilities not only for people with disabilities but also for the elderly. Mainichi criticized, "After the problem was uncovered, headquarters has not provided detailed explanations to employees, and senior officials keep repeating that everything is fine." The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare began a special audit of the headquarters earlier this month and decided to revoke the business licenses of all facilities operated by Megumi, not just those where incidents occurred. Currently, the Megumi group’s website is inaccessible.
As the government’s strong measures put 104 group homes for people with disabilities at risk of closure, confusion has arisen among those waiting for admission. The Japanese government has expressed its intention to continue audits and formulate countermeasures. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi held a press conference stating, "We will respond by establishing consultation desks for facility users and their families at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as well as setting up a council to support the use of welfare services."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
