Fake Marubeni papers used to lure investor money

TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Employees of Japan's fifth-largest trading house, Marubeni Corp (8002.T: Quote, Profile, Research), were involved in forging documents to collect money from investors, a company official said on Saturday.

"Earlier this month, we fired two contract employees for their involvement in using false documents with Marubeni's name on them to illegally collect money from investors, and we have verbally reported the case to the police," a spokesman at Marubeni said.

"We are not involved as a company," he said. He declined to comment on details.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on Saturday that senior officials at medical consulting firm Asclepius Ltd, a wholly owned unit of LTT Bio-Pharma Co (4566.T: Quote, Profile, Research), sought to collect funds from investors, citing sources familiar with the issue.

The money was meant to go to hospitals and other institutions for equipment purchases, the newspaper said.

When soliciting investors, the Asclepius officials presented a document stating that Marubeni would be responsible for repayment if Asclepius could not, the Newspaper reported.

In addition to the two Marubeni contract employees, a former LTT senior executive and a former Asclepius official were also believed to have been involved, the newspaper said.

Several investors were said to have billions of yen that cannot be recovered, including U.S. brokerage Lehman Brothers LEH.N, which was likely to lose some 24 billion yen ($242.1 million) as a result of the deal, the newspaper said.

Lehman's Japanese affiliate failed to receive the money after the redemption date at the end of February, the newspaper said, without citing sources.

"After we became aware of the fraud we launched a fact finding investigation and then informed the appropriate authorities. We are confident that we undertook all the appropriate measures on the transaction and will commence legal action against Marubeni Corporation," Lehman Brothers Japan Inc. said in a statement released on Saturday. ($1=99.12 Yen) (Reporting by Chikako Mogi; editing by Louise Heavens)