Nursing care firm latest victim of fraud in Japan

TOKYO, April 1 (Reuters) - A scam that prompted investment bank Lehman Brothers LEH.N to sue trading house Marubeni Corp (8002.T) in hopes of recovering $352 million claimed another victim in nursing care firm Medca Japan 9707.Q.

Medca, which runs nursing homes and is listed on the Jasdaq market for start-up companies, said in a statement late on Monday it may not be able to recover 3.5 billion yen ($35 million) invested in bonds from a fund linked to the alleged fraud.

Medca joins Lehman and boutique investment bank FinTech Global Inc (8789.T) on the list of companies that have made public their exposure to a widening scandal that could yet ensare other firms. [ID:nT254231]

Lehman said on Monday it had filed a lawsuit in a Tokyo court to recover loans made to finance a revamp of hospitals and lease medical equipment through Asclepius, a now-bankrupt unit of drug firm LTT Bio-Pharma Co 4566.T.

When repayment fell due on Feb. 29, Marubeni said the contract was void because it had been signed with a forged seal, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Marubeni says it is also a victim of the scam.

Marubeni, which fired two contract employees involved in the case on March 10, said in a statement on Saturday that the staff had been manipulated by a former president of Asclepius and had been forced to use company offices without authorisation.

Medca said it was invited by a former president of Asclepius and an employee of Marubeni's life care business division to buy bonds from an investment fund, and did so in May 2007. It now believes it may not be able to recover that investment following the bankruptcy filing of Asclepius last month.

Similarly, FinTech Global has announced that it had put about 2.2 billion yen in a partnership affiliated with Asclepius. It said the redemption of its investment was due on March 21 but that it had not yet been redeemed. (Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Paul Bolding)