A 53-year-old doctor at the University of Tokyo Hospital was arrested Wednesday for allegedly taking about ?700,000 in bribes from an official at a medical equipment company in return for using the firm＊s devices on a priority basis.
Arrested by Tokyo＊s Metropolitan Police Department was Takehiro Matsubara, a doctor at the hospital＊s Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine.
The MPD also arrested Takayuki Suzuki, 41, the former head of a Tokyo sales office of the medical equipment maker, Japan Medical Dynamic Marketing, on suspicion of bribing Matsubara. The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange＊s top-tier Prime section.
The police department did not reveal whether the suspects have admitted to the allegations against them.
Matsubara allegedly received a total of about ?700,000 in bribes in 2021 and 2023 in exchange for agreeing to prioritize use of the company＊s medical devices, such as implants for femoral fractures, at the hospital.
The suspects are believed to have abused a system allowing individuals and companies to make donations for supporting research. Matsubara is suspected of having Suzuki remit ?400,000 to a bank account of the hospital twice for a total of ?800,000, the police said. Matsubara was authorized to use about 85% of the total amount at his own discretion.
According to the MPD, Matsubara received a total of about ?3 million from Tokyo-based Japan Medical Dynamic Marketing and four other companies between December 2016 and January 2023. He is believed to have misappropriated at least about ?1.5 million of the total for private purposes, such as buying a computer.
The hospital is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, a national institution. Hospital personnel are therefore deemed to be public servants and could face bribery charges.
As the chief of the hospital＊s Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Spinal Surgery, Matsubara was in a position to be able to select and register medical equipment used at the hospital.
The hospital, established in 1858, has about 1,200 beds and roughly 4,300 employees, according to its website.
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