Prudential Life Insurance has decided to keep its pause on new sales in place for an additional 180 days, extending an earlier 90-day suspension, as it grapples with a growing internal investigation involving alleged misuse of client funds.
A report by The Japan Times said the move comes as the scope of the issue widened, with roughly 400 new complaints recently added to the case file. These reports involve both former and current staff, bringing the total number of customer grievances to around 700.
Company leadership acknowledged that the problem is not being treated as a series of isolated incidents. During a press briefing on Wednesday, Prudential CEO Hiromitsu Tokumaru admitted that the situation had revealed deeper weaknesses in the firm’s internal systems and oversight.
The controversy first surfaced in January, when Prudential Life reported that approximately 100 employees were involved in irregular handling of nearly 500 customer accounts. The activities in question included unauthorised withdrawals and questionable investment actions using policyholders’ money.
The company has estimated that the total amount of funds involved in the improper transactions reaches about JPY3.14bn ($20m), with cases spanning from 1991 to 2025.
By early February, complaints had already reached about 300, all raising similar concerns about how customer assets were managed. That figure has since more than doubled.
Of the latest total of around 700 complaints, about 70 are linked to employees of a Japanese subsidiary fully owned by the parent firm.
A dedicated committee is now reviewing each case to determine whether affected customers should be compensated. The company expects the assessment process to be completed by the autumn.