Tokyo – Japanese pubcaster NHK has sacked two reporters and a director of a network for their involvement in an insider trading scandal. Two of the three had admitted to the allegations during investigations conducted by NHK, following orders from the government’s securities watchdog to check the trading activities of its news division employees. The three discharged employees bought 1,000-3,000 shares each in a restaurant chain on March 8, 2007 prior to NHK’s broadcast of an exclusive report on the restaurant’s plan to absorb a sushi group. The stocks were sold off the following day for profits of ¥100,000-400,000 (US$1,000-$4,000) each. According to the confessions, the corporate information was accessed through NHK’s internal news editing system. The scandal forced NHK president Genichi Hashimoto to resign in January 2008 just days before he was due to step down at the end of his term. NHK also punished nine senior staff including a chief producer at its Tokyo headquarters with pay cuts.