Accountability and responsibility are finally catching up at Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. On Wednesday, the former president of the company, Katsuhiko Kawasoe, was found guilty of negligence and sentenced to three years in prison. The case relates to the death of a man in 2002 in an accident when his brakes failed to function. The vehicle was a Mitsubishi, and the defect was traced to a malfunctioning clutch system. The cars were recalled, but not before major damage had been done to the company’s credibility.

Three other company officials were also found guilty of failing to report defects that they knew could cause passengers serious injuries.

The Mitsubishi scandal – Japan’s version of the crisis that crippled Ford in the US – erupted in 2000, when Kawasoe, then the president, was forced to quit in disgrace after allegations that the company had kept reports of dozens of accidents involving its vehicles secret, and had let vehicles they knew were defective roll out the shop floor and into showrooms and people’s garages. Accident reports were kept in a secret locker, and everybody “in the know” decided it was best to maintain a conspiratorial silence about the lack of customer safety standards in the company, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Kawasoe seemed contrite enough at the trial saying he hoped the company – which slipped into financial ruin after the scandal – would do its best to uphold corporate governance. A little late in the day, Mr. Kawasoe.

The scandal also brought to light other trials. In one trial, in which a verdict was delivered in December, a court found quality control workers at the plant were negligent in the death of a housewife. The woman was walking on the street when a tire rolled off a Mitsubishi truck, and crushed her to death. In the other trial, three former company officials were charged with falsifying reports and failing to take measures to recall defective vehicles.

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