Kappa Sushi president arrested on suspicion of stealing data from rival chain

Tokyo police arrested Koki Tanabe, the president of the operator of the Kappa Create sushi restaurant chain, on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining confidential information on a rival company.

Tanabe, 46, president of Kappa Create, is suspected of stealing the information on several occasions in 2020 from rival sushi chain Hama-Sushi in violation of the unfair competition prevention law.

He once served as an executive of Hama-Sushi, where he allegedly solicited a former subordinate to bring the information.

The former Tanabe subordinate and another Kappa Create executive are also expected to be arrested.

The police will refer Kappa Create to prosecutors under a dual liability clause, which mandates punishing a company along with employees who committed a crime as part of corporate activities.

The stolen information included many sets of unreleased data that may be deemed business secrets under the law.

The Hama-Sushi side found out through an internal investigation in 2021 that the data had been stolen and later filed a criminal complaint with the Tokyo police.