A Tokyo-based staffing firm that was commissioned by the prefecture (administrative jurisdiction) of Hokkaido and Tomakomai City to dispatch nursing care workers has overcharged the prefecture and the city by over JPY 173 million (USD 1.1 million) over the five-year period up to 2022, reports NHK News. According to an internal investigation, Sigma Staff overcharged JPY 140 million (USD 935,641) from Hokkaido and JPY 33 million (USD 220,543) from Tomakomai City.

The charges were fraudulently inflated by billing the city twice and billing for fictitious expenses. The company explained, “Recognising that if the amount claimed for expenses was less than the upper limit set in the contract, there was a risk that the upper limit would be lowered in the following year's contract, and the person in charge at the branch took the initiative''. So far, seven employees, including managers at the Sapporo branch, have been confirmed to have been involved in the fraud, and five of these have already resigned.

“We deeply apologise for the great inconvenience caused to the citizens of Hokkaido and Tomakomai City. We will follow the instructions of the prefecture and the city, return the items at the appropriate time, and work to prevent recurrence and restore trust,” President and CEO of Sigma Staff Yoshio Suzuki said.

Sigma Staff was founded in 1983 and employs 90 staffing working out of eight offices in Japan. It is the temporary staffing brand of the Sigma Group which also provides additional human resource services.