TOYOTA-EXECUTIVE/FREE Ex-Toyota exec Hamp freed after arrest on suspected drug offence

Record ID: 147978

  • Title: TOYOTA-EXECUTIVE/FREE Ex-Toyota exec Hamp freed after arrest on suspected drug offence
  • Date: 8th July 2015
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE-2010)(REUTERS) SIGN READING (Japanese/English): TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION EXTERIOR OF TOYOTA MOTOR CORP TOKYO OFFICE SIGN READING (English): " TOYOTA" TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE-2013)(REUTERS) TOYOTA LOGO
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2PXDMZVRB2LRGLE5FN0P3VCBN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Former Toyota Motor Corp executive Julie Hamp was released from Japanese police custody on Wednesday (July 8), following her arrest last month on suspicion of illegally importing the painkiller Oxycodone into Japan.
    Hamp, a U.S. citizen who became Toyota's chief communications officer and first female managing officer in April, had been held since her June 18 arrest. She resigned from the world's largest automaker last week.
    Anticipating her release, dozens of journalists waited for hours outside the police station in Tokyo where she had been held but were only able to catch a glimpse of her as she was whisked into a Toyota Alphard minivan. Hamp, 55, held a black briefcase to her face as she emerged from the building.
    An official at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office told reporters that prosecutors had taken into account the "social penalty" she had already incurred with her resignation from Toyota.
    She was arrested on June 18 after customs officials found tablets of oxycodone in a parcel shipped to her from the United States. Hamp said she did not think she had imported an illegal substance, police said.
    Local media had said on Tuesday (July 7) that Hamp was unlikely to be charged because prosecutors judged there was little criminal intent in the case, which arose when her father mailed her the pills to alleviate knee pain.
    Toyota in a statement apologised for the incident, repeating that it remained committed to "putting the right people in the right places" regardless of nationality or gender. It added that Senior Managing Officer Shigeru Hayakawa had been appointed to replace Hamp as chief communications officer effective July 6.
    Oxycodone is a prescription drug in both the United States and Japan. Bringing it into Japan requires prior approval from the government and it must be carried by the individual.
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