Nidec to sue former executives over accounting issues

Japanese electric motor maker Nidec said on Tuesday it had decided to sue founder Shigenobu Nagamori and eight other former executives for damages over suspected accounting irregularities that have put its stock market listing at risk.

Besides Nagamori, the company plans to sue former chairman Hiroshi Kobe and former chief executives Mitsuya Kishida and Jun Seki, who is now chief strategy officer for electric vehicles at Taiwan’s Foxconn.

The suit will also target two other former directors, two former corporate auditors and a former chief financial officer.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange placed Nidec on “special alert” in October 2025 and gave it a year to improve its internal controls or risk delisting.

The exchange’s action followed disclosures by Nidec of concerns about inappropriate accounting practices at some group companies.

A report by a Nidec-appointed committee of outside lawyers, released this month, said Nagamori had breached his supervisory duties by failing to report the suspected irregularities to the board and auditors, and to seek the necessary investigations.

Nidec said it in a statement it was still determining how much compensation it would seek and would file the lawsuit once it was ready to do so.

A Nidec spokesperson said the company could not provide contact details for Nagamori, Kobe or Kishida because they had left the company.

The Nagamori Foundation, which lists Nagamori as its president, and Kyoto University of Advanced Science, which lists him as chairman, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kobe and Kishida could not immediately be reached.

Foxconn did not immediately respond when asked whether Seki or the company had any comment on the merits of the lawsuit or possible next steps.

Auditor PwC Japan last month declined to give an opinion on Nidec’s accounts for the year ended March 2026, saying it could not obtain sufficient evidence.