Fujitsu chair resigns after ‘woman-related inappropriate conduct’

Japanese technology company at centre of Post Office IT scandal is negotiating settlement with UK government over faulty software

The chair of Fujitsu , the Japanese technology firm at the centre of the Post Office IT scandal, has resigned after its board became aware of his “woman-related inappropriate conduct”.

The company said on Tuesday that Hidenori Furuta had stepped down after two years in the role.

The tech firm said in a stock market filing that its board of directors “became aware of his inappropriate conduct and subsequently received a request from Mr Furuta to resign as director as of 16 June”.

Fujitsu added that it has withdrawn Furuta’s candidacy as a non-executive director at its annual ⁠shareholders’ meeting later this month.

A spokesperson said that “there was inappropriate conduct” that was “woman-related”, but gave no further details, the Financial Times reported.

It is the latest scandal concerning Fujitsu, which supplied faulty software to the Post Office in the UK, leading to thousands of post office operators being falsely accused of embezzling funds, with 900 wrongfully convicted for theft and false accounting.

The company is negotiating a settlement with the UK government, but has not yet contributed towards the £1.5bn compensation bill for victims, footed by UK taxpayers, even though it admitted it had known since the 1990s that the Horizon system was faulty.