Photo/Illutration Shinobu Yamagishi, left, former president of Osaka-based real estate company Pressance Corp., arrives at the Osaka District Court for his trial on Oct. 28, 2021. (Arata Namima)

OSAKA—A former real estate company president is seeking criminal charges against two prosecutors over what he says was an illegal investigation and a forced, fake confession.

Shinobu Yamagishi, 59, who headed Osaka-based Pressance Corp., will file criminal complaints with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office against two prosecutors of the special investigation unit of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, his lawyers said.

Yamagishi was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of embezzling 2.1 billion yen ($17 million) from a school operator called Meijo Gakuin in Osaka Prefecture.

Investigators said Yamagishi colluded with the former chair of Meijo Gakuin to steal deposit money gained from the sale of a land plot.

However, the Osaka District Court acquitted Yamagishi in October.

During the trial, prosecutors tried to use a confession made by a former division chief at Pressance to prove Yamagishi’s guilt. The former division chief said that Yamagishi had colluded with the former chair of Meijo Gakuin.

But the Osaka District Court acknowledged that a prosecutor told the former division chief during the investigation, “You are a great criminal who tarnished the reputation (of Pressance).”

The court said this and other comments by the prosecutor made the former division chief feel responsible for the alleged crime, potentially prompting him to give a false confession.

The court judged that the confession was unreliable and acquitted Yamagishi. That ruling has been finalized.

Yamagishi’s lawyers said the prosecutor violated a law concerning the conduct of “special public officers,” including prosecutors, while on duty.

They said the prosecutor basically threatened a witness during the investigation.

The lawyers said the other prosecutor targeted in the criminal complaints threatened another suspect in the embezzlement case with a more severe punishment if that person refused to support the allegations that Yamagishi colluded with the former chair of Meijo Gakuin.

The lawyers will also file a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court, seeking damages of 770 million yen from the government over the mental anguish Yamagishi suffered during his 248-day detention brought about by the illegal investigation, among other factors.

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