Former employees of the Mandeau Palace were suspected of misappropriating 500 million yen.
Bandai Nammong announced that between 2021 and 2023, a former employee of a subsidiary under the flag was suspected of “misappropriation” approximately 500 million yen (approximately 25 million yuan). As a result of the incident, the employee was arrested and several of the managers of the subsidiary were sentenced to temporary pay reduction.
According to a press release outlining the alleged misconduct and the remedial measures taken by the Bandai Namma Palace, although the arrest took place in January 2024 and the company has since initiated civil and criminal proceedings against the former employee, the company was not able to disclose the matter until now.
The alleged misappropriation of public funds took place in Bandai Logipal, a subsidiary of the Mangong Palace in Hong Kong, China, and was discovered through an internal audit. Following the arrest of the former employee, Bandai Logipal took disciplinary action against several of his managerial staff: for a period of three months from April 2024, four executives and three full-time directors were reduced by 30 per cent and two full-time directors by 15 per cent.
“Our group attaches great importance to this event and extends its sincere and profound apologies to all stakeholders who are concerned and inconvenienced by it. We will continue to cooperate fully with the investigations of local law enforcement agencies and will work as a group to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”
In order to prevent similar incidents in the future, a new unit is being formed at the Mandea Palace, based in Japan, which is specifically responsible for overseeing the management of overseas subsidiaries. According to the company, the impact of the incident on the fiscal year ended 31 March 2026 was expected to be minimal.
Sony recently announced that it would invest $463 million in Mandea Palace as part of a “strategic partnership”, which would allow it to own approximately 2.5 per cent of the company’s share. Although both companies are well known for their video games, in the joint statement Wanda Nammong and Sony stated that cooperation would “focus on expanding the global audience of IP fans, such as animations, cartoons and so forth, and enhancing interaction, especially in areas where rapid growth is expected”.
