Bandai Namco recently revealed that several of its executives have taken pay cuts after an employee embezzled around 500 million yen (approximately 3.38 million dollars) over a few years. This is notable because leadership pay cuts are pretty rare, especially in the gaming world, even when serious financial issues arise.
In this case, the theft happened at Bandai Logipal, a Bandai Namco subsidiary based in Hong Kong. The embezzlement occurred from 2021 through 2023, and the employee was arrested in 2024. Until now, Bandai Namco has remained silent on the situation due to ongoing legal matters, but they’ve recently issued a press release outlining the incident and their response.
Because the case was so serious, disciplinary measures went beyond prosecuting the employee. The subsidiary’s president and three directors had their pay cut by 30%, starting in April 2024 and lasting three months. Also, two other directors faced a 15% pay cut for the same period.
These executives are believed to have had some responsibility in the embezzlement, though, unlike the employee, they were not fired. You might wonder if this feels a bit unfair, why the employee faces prosecution while executives only lose part of their paychecks? It’s a fair question.
Maybe the employee was the main culprit, or maybe there’s more to the story that hasn’t come out yet. The legal process is still ongoing, and Bandai Namco’s legal team probably prefers to keep details to a minimum for now.
So far, the official information is straightforward: multiple people are being punished for their roles, but only the employee is facing prosecution.
It’s a tough situation, and it raises questions about accountability at different levels within companies. What do you think about the executives getting pay cuts but not losing their jobs? I’m looking to read your thoughts.
