By SUSUMU IMAIZUMI/ Staff Writer
September 22, 2022 at 17:12 JST
Tsutomu Sugimori, chairman of Eneos Holdings Inc., in November 2021 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The former chairman and CEO of Eneos Holdings Inc. left the company last month because he sexually assaulted and injured a hostess, Japan’s largest oil distributor said on Sept. 21.
Eneos confirmed the sexual misconduct by Tsutomu Sugimori, 66, first reported by the online version of the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho.
During a business trip to Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Sugimori visited a local hostess club on the evening of July 1 with executives of an oil wholesale company based in the city, according to Eneos Holdings.
Shukan Shincho reported that Sugimori became drunk, groped a hostess and kissed her against her will. He forcibly undressed her, breaking her rib in the process. She required two weeks to recover from the injury.
Eneos Holdings said it learned of the incident in mid-July after receiving a complaint from a lawyer for the victim.
A public relations official from the company said Sugimori acknowledged the misconduct and expressed remorse when Takeshi Saito, president of Eneos Holdings, and other officials asked him about it.
Sugimori resigned on Aug. 12 at the suggestion of Saito. He also stepped down from his roles as the president of the Petroleum Association of Japan and a vice chairman of Keidanren’s (the Japan Business Federation) Board of Councillors.
But at the time, Eneos Holdings had only said Sugimori resigned for “personal reasons,” without divulging any more details about his abrupt departure.
In a statement issued following the magazine report, the company apologized to the victim. It declined to comment on whether the victim filed a complaint with police or reached an out-of-court settlement with Sugimori, citing the need to protect her privacy.
“We decided not to disclose it (the reason behind Sugimori’s resignation) to prevent the victim from suffering additional mental stress from ensuing media reports on the matter,” said the public relations official.
Sugimori joined Nippon Oil Corp., one of the predecessors of Eneos Holdings, in 1979 and became the president of JXTG Holdings Inc. in 2018. He assumed the post as chairman of the company after it changed its name to Eneos Holdings in 2020.
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