Sticking the wikipedia article here since its getting too long and clogging up my design thread, which you can go through here:
Akamatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (赤松自動車株式会社, Akamatsu Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha) often known simply as Akamatsu Motor or Akamatsu, is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fukuoka, Japan, historically being a tools and weapons manufacturer, it moved to automotive manufacturing crude but reliable cars in the early 1930’s and restarting production in the 1950’s after World War II and is one of the oldest operating companies in Japan, having been founded in 1506 during the Sengoku Period. (citation needed)
Establishment of Akamatsu and Early History (Pre-1800)
Legend states that Akamatsu is derived from the name of Tsuda Katsuharu (Unknown - c. 1531), the legendary founder of Akamatsu’s wife, Akami Toriimatsu (1485 - c. 1538), although there is some logical reasoning behind this theory. There is no concrete evidence to suggest this, thus the origin of the name Akamatsu is currently unknown.
Likewise, there is very little evidence to confirm Tsuda Katsuharu ever existed, as he is viewed more as a legendary figure rather than a historical one. However, the earliest known record of a business with the name Akamatsu dates to about 1509 around what is today Fukuoka, a receipt for a large purchase of iron by one “Tsuda Katahare”, possibly suggesting it simply being a miscommunication with the metalsmith regarding Katsuharu’s name.
Meiji Era and World War II (1870-1946)
During the Meiji Era, Akamatsu General Trading Company saw rapid growth under the new Emperor, eventually restructuring itself as Akamatsu Group (1871-1946) under its first chairman, Teiichi Kōyama (1832-1900). Production of firearms increased rapidly in the buildup to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Under Kōyama’s grandson, Hisaya Kōyama (1906-1977), the very first Akamatsu automobile, the Akamatsu Type 25 was built at Fukuoka on January 6, 1934. The Type 25 was the very first mass produced car made entirely in Japan, going on to produce approximately 3,500 until the beginning of World War II in 1939. The very first Akamatsu Type 25, painted an olive green was found in an old barn on a farm near Akita City in late 1992, being carefully restored to its former factory condition over the course of 3 years. Currently, it is on display in the Akamatsu Automotive Heritage Museum in Fukuoka.
During World War II, Akamatsu produced armaments such as the Type 66 Tokagi medium tank, Type 70 Satori main battle tank and various anti-aircraft weaponry, like most Japanese companies during this time, Akamatsu made use of forced labor for the war effort, these labor forces were made up mainly of Chinese peasants put to work in hastily set up factories to produce firearms and aircraft. Approximately 56,000 Chinese, Korean, Filipino civilians and American POWs were subject to forced labor, and an unknown amount were worked to death. During the next 60 years various lawsuits and demands for compensation by survivors were put forward. On May 6, 2014, Akamatsu Group chairman Tatsurō Tagama issued a formal apology to those who were subject to forced labor and on May 8, compensated 5,651 Chinese survivors and 955 Korean survivors $37,500 each, making Akamatsu one of the first Japanese companies to acknowledge and apologise for its actions.
Post-World War II
At the surrender of Japan in 1945, Akamatsu was barred from producing firearms and aircraft, and became a state-owned company until privatised again in 1954. The then government-installed chairman of Akamatsu, Koichiro Iwada (b. 1892) was put on trial for supplying the Imperial Japanese Army during the war and indirectly causing thousands of innocent deaths through both violence and forced labour. Iwada was found guilty and subsequently executed in 1948. After the war, Akamatsu would not continue its firearm production operations, making weapons such as good condition Type 45s extremely valuable and sought after by collectors. Manufacturing of aircraft would cease in 2000.
The first model to begin mass production after WWII was the Akamatsu Plessia, introduced in 1951, a very crude, but cheap and reliable car meant for the mass market, with the 600cc, 800cc and 1100cc engines, it proved popular with the Japanese public, it would continue production until 1967. The 1962 Sapphire would be the first luxury offering, introducing the luxurious Grand Star marque, followed by the Persona in 1966 and the Sakura GT in 1969, the first compact and sports car offering from Akamatsu.
Partnership with Trade Unions (1970)
Akamatsu has been a partner of trade unions since 1970, such as the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions (全日本自動車産業労働組合総連合会, Jidosha Soren). The current chairman of the Akamatsu Group, Tatsurō Tagama, has been a member of the Japanese Communist Party since 1988.
Re-entry into US market (1965-1980)
In 1965, Akamatsu only exported about 3,500 cars to North America, accounting for only about a 0.2% share of the US market, most cars exported were mostly 3rd generation A10’s, sold as the Akamatsu 600 (Despite only being fitted with an 800cc engine) in North America, the 600 sold poorly compared to the large V8 offerings from Torrento because of their small size and weak engine, which raised safety concerns, imports stopped by October 1969 with the end of production of the A10, and Akamatsu pulled out of the US market. By 1976 however, the 1973 oil crisis had changed the American view on cars, Akamatsu re-entered the market in 1975, now exporting roughly 105,000 vehicles every year at a tremendous cost, in Fukuoka, the re-entry into the US market was considered a “massive gamble” that could bankrupt the manufacturer, but now accounting for a 4.8% market share by 1980, the re-entry was considered a huge success. In 2019, Akamatsu was estimated to hold a 15.9% share of all cars sold in the US that year.
Other Foreign markets
Akamatsu would begin production in Taiwan in 1963, with a factory in Kaohsiung, licensing the Persona compact car and Everon pickup truck to Kee Fong Group, in 1985, the Kee Fong Star 160, based on the fourth gen Persona would appear in Taiwan and become relatively popular, eventually renamed the Akamatsu Star Persona in 2005.
Introduction of 4WR and Modern History (1990-Present)
In 1992, Akamatsu introduced the Protera, a lightweight sports coupe that still focused heavily on the balance between power, handling and fuel economy, instead of the Torrento approach of pure power for it’s sports cars, the Protera was primarily sold in markets such as Singapore and Thailand. The second generation, introduced in 1996, would eventually go on to be even more successful, and eventually went on to compete in WRC, winning a total of 64 rallies between 1992 and 2008(1), spanning two generations. marked by the highly limited Protera 4WR, of which only about 1,050 first generation, and 250 second generation models are known to have been produced, though many third parties offer cheap 4WR cosmetic conversion kits for normal Proteras, however, genuine 4WR engines and turbo kits are much harder to come by on the aftermarket and are therefore more expensive than their mimic-tuned counterparts.
Akamatsu is currently the largest manufacturer in the world and one of the largest Seisan Keiretsu (jp: 生産系列, lit. “Vertical Manufacturing Network”) in Japan. Being a member of the “big four” Seisan Keiretsu in Japan, controversy has arisen over Akamatsu’s dominance in the Japanese automotive industry and its alleged monopolistic and anti-competitive behaviour. In South Korea, Akamatsu Korea Group is considered a chaebol (kr: 재벌, lit. “Rich Family” or “Financial Clique”), as it is largely entirely controlled by its CEO, Hwang Hyon-woo and the wider Hwang family.
Allegations of criminal connections
On December 19, 1997, Nakahara Konishi, then Head of Accounting for Akamatsu Construction Corporation, was arrested at his home on new evidence that he had previously made dealings with the local Fukuoka-Kitukyushu based Kozokawa-gumi Yakuza in the 1980’s. Konishi had allegedly paid millions of yen to the Yakuza to protect Akamatsu Construction employees and worksites, while intimidating rival companies into giving up their contracts, allowing Akamatsu Construction to scoop up lucrative building contracts around Japan for next to nothing, alongside being able to claim massive insurance payouts from the cancellation of undesirable contracts. Fellow senior figures in the company were also implicated in the scandal, Board Chairman Kazuo Kitagima, senior executives Ito Wakanaba, Keichiro Watanabe and Natsuya Tsushida, only Watanabe escaped criminal conviction.
In May 1998, the four implicated company figures, as well as a Kozokawa-gumi affiliate who allegedly brokered the deal, Haneda Ozuya, stood before a court in a widely publicised trial, in the months leading up, the stock price of Akamatsu Construction, already weakened by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, crashed from its all time high of ¥993 in July 1996 to ¥170 in April 1998, but by this time most of the company’s investors had dumped their shares and pulled out. On May 29, 1998, the Fukuoka High Court sentenced Kitagima to 7 years 2 months, Konishi to 7 years, Wakanaba to 6 years 9 months, Tsushida to 6 years 5 months, and Ozuya to 5 years.
After the convictions, Akamatsu Construction announced a major crackdown on corruption, leading to a purge of most of the senior management, the complete dismissal of the company board, as well as the dismissal of nearly 300 lower employees. In July 1998, a new board was established, and its head, Ichiro Asaki, vowed that under his watch, “even the most minute cheaters will be shown no mercy, as they have dishonored the company, their peers, and themselves.”.
The publicity of the trial also brought unwanted attention to the Kozokawa-gumi, who at its peak in 1985, had an estimated 900 members. The Kozokawa-gumi is thought to have dissolved by January 2002 after the death of its godfather, Kazuo Fujikatsu.
Total market cap of the Akamatsu Group totalled ¥221.53 trillion, or about $1.498 trillion USD for the 2023 financial year across all its industries, making the group the 6th largest company in the world.
Non-automotive ventures
Firearms Production
During World War II, Akamatsu produced firearms and aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Army, most famously the Type 45 Bolt Action Rifle. The Type 45 and it’s derivatives, such as the Type 48 Sniper Rifle, were very popular rifles due to their build quality and finish. By 1945 however, quality of the Type 45 had severely diminished due to the turning tide of the war, the “Last Ditch” Type 45 was ridiculed as resembling a poorly made knockoff of the early war Type 45, having had most of its unnecessary metal parts removed, such as the cleaning rod or buttplate, as well as using cheaper quality wood and metals without the same level of care in the production process, as well as a complete lack of wood finish and smoothing out of tooling errors, despite this, this Type 45 was no less safe to use by soldiers, as well as saving as many materials as possible in a futile attempt to curb the United States’ progress towards the Japanese islands.
Sparkling Sake and Wine Business
Akamatsu, strangely enough, is also the owner of it’s very own luxurious and widely celebrated wine and sparkling sake business. Most famously it’s commemorative bottle of Katsuharu Niigata 1961, named for the legendary founder of Akamatsu, Tsuda Katsuharu (Unknown - c. 1531), and sold at auction for a record breaking ¥390,000,000 in 2005, with much of the proceeds given back to the local vineyard workers of Niigata as gratitude for their tireless work to produce excellent quality grapes.
Telecommunications and the Internet
Akamatsu Group is also a major investor in the telecommunications sector, since 1987, many inroads into the industry have been made, growing to own various telecom companies in Asia and Oceania, such as KGC Telecom (South Korea), Vincom Group (Vietnam), SGTel (Singapore), KTB1 (Taiwan), Chiang Yai Group (Thailand) and KoalaCom (Australia). All these companies are managed by subsidiary Akamatsu Telecom Corporation (ATCC).
Akamatsu-Kansai Aerospace Co., Ltd. (1926-2000)
Akamatsu-Kansai Aerospace Co., Ltd. had been producing aircraft since 1926, the most famous being the World War II F09 Narita and legendary A06 Nakawa long range Carrier-based fighters, with production only pausing for a short while after the end of World War II, most aircraft produced during the 1970s and 1980s were large commercial jets and smaller jets intended for business and private use, the most notable model being the A550-200 commercial jet, produced between 1994-2000 and since 2002, first entering service with Singapore Airlines in 1995. The A550 was one of the largest in its class for its time, being able to seat 285 passengers at full capacity, as well as being very affordable for airlines, designed to be able to travel 13,450km (8,360 miles) carrying 225 passengers. After Akamatsu-Kansai filed for bankruptcy in 2000, the newly emerged Kansai Aircraft Corporation (KAC) continued production of the A550 series, beginning production in late 2002, to date, the A550 is the most widely used commercial passenger aircraft in the world.
2000 East China Sea mid-air collision of Hakone Airways Flight 3956 & Satsumi Airlines Flight 5587
Hakone Airways Flight 3956 (serial 22457, callsign HAKONE 3956, registration JA-N1224) was a regularly scheduled flight departing from Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Tokyo, Japan, connecting en-route to Los Angeles. Satsumi Airlines Flight 5587 (serial 16171, callsign SATSUMI 5587, registration JA-K7171) was a regularly scheduled Airline departing from Manila, Philippines to Busan, South Korea. Both flights departed their origin airports at 00:05 and 00:27 JST respectively on January 10, 2000. At approximately 04:26 JST, both planes collided mid-air over the East China Sea, SAT5587’s engines had failed due to a factory manufacturing error, as SAT5587, a newly delivered Akamatsu-Kansai A770-300NR that was one of fifteen being produced cheaply by unskilled factory workers in Jakarta, Indonesia in order to cut costs due to economic losses from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. HKE3956 was a 13 year old Akamatsu-Kansai A430-300 that had not been properly serviced since July 1998. It was carrying 192 passengers and 15 crew, mostly comprised of returning Japanese tourists. SAT5587 was carrying 273 passengers and 17 crew, mostly of Filipino and Korean origin. The collision was caused by SAT5587’s sudden left and right engine failure. HKE3956 failed to pull up to avoid collision with the rapidly descending SAT5587 due to the elevators suddenly failing, with the latter’s nose slicing into the fuselage and left wing of HKE3956 , causing an explosion seen as far away as Nakanoshima Island on the Japanese Ryukyu Island chain.
The collision killed 464 of the 465 passengers and all 32 crew on board both aircraft. Making the accident the third deadliest air accident in aviation history until 2001. One man, 29-year-old Aito Nichibatsu of Flight 3956, was miraculously the sole survivor of the disaster, surviving in the East China Sea alone for two days before being rescued.
In the aftermath of the crash, Akamatsu-Kansai Aerospace, already crippled by poor financial results for 1998 and 1999, as well as the poor publicity from the crash and subsequent media reports, filed for bankruptcy on December 5, 2000. The chairman, Hikiko Kanagawa, laden with the perceived guilt of indirectly causing so many deaths, committed suicide not long after. The factory in Jakarta that produced the ill-fated A770 was closed immediately after the accident and was eventually demolished in early 2002. The remaining fourteen A770s produced by the factory were taken out of service temporarily and sent off to other factories in Asia to be finished properly, and shortly after being pressed into service before the company became bankrupt. Kansai Aircraft Corporation (KAC) emerged from the bankruptcy proceedings in 2005 after being bought by an investment company in Tokyo. Satsumi Airlines would file for bankruptcy that same year, its reputation destroyed by the accident.
Akamatsu Engineering Corporation (c. 1885-Present)
Akamatsu Engineering Co., Ltd is the large-scale engineering division of the Akamatsu Group, responsible for the design and construction of large projects such as reservoir dams and shipping ports, notable projects include the Chaeson Dam in South Korea, Kangwon Industrial Port, also in South Korea, as well as Xiaoming 566 Hydroelectric Power Plant in Southeastern China.
Taesong Manufacturing Plant collapse
The firm is also responsible for the construction of Taejong (Also romanised as Taejeong or Taejung) Motor Plant (Korean:태종자동차공장) in Daegu, South Korea, which collapsed in a sudden structural failure on the evening of 26 May 1989, just 6 years after construction was completed in the fall of 1983, attributed to poor management, unauthorised changes to the original building plans, such as the fourth and fifth floors, while the original blueprints only guaranteed the stability of the structural pylons at only three floors, the Korean plant managers decided to ignore warnings from the Japanese architects that the pylons could collapse if more weight was put on them than was calculated to be safe.
Widespread corruption among the management and the contracted construction company, Yousang Construction was also common, during construction, Yousang instructed its workers to thin the floors from 36 inches to 21.5 inches to save costs, while also cutting corners on construction in other areas using cheaper, less safe materials. In September 1988, 8 months prior to the collapse, government building inspectors raised concerns about the creaking and cracking noises coming from the northwest pylons on the second and third floor, however, the inspectors took a collective ₩100,000,000 bribe to not report the fault.
On the morning of May 26, 1989, workers arrived on site and began reporting sounds of cracking and bits of concrete and plaster falling from the ceiling, these concerns went ignored by management. By 5:00PM, significant cracking could be heard in the building, the production floor especially. At 6:11PM, a worker on the production floor reported seeing a very large crack in multiple of the pylons holding the roof of the factory up and bits of debris falling from around it. 50 of the 170 workers on the floor at the time decided to evacuate, the rest did not. In the nearby office complex, workers reported bits of plaster falling onto their desks and light fixtures flickering, which was ignored.
At 6:35PM, the fifth floor suddenly collapsed, which caused the fourth and third floors to collapse downward before coming to rest on the ground floor. At 6:36PM, the office complex’s third and fourth floor collapsed with 115 office workers inside.
294 workers were killed and over 500 were injured in the collapse, making Taejong the deadliest structural failure in South Korea until surpassed by the Sampoong Department Store collapse in 1995.
In the aftermath of the collapse, many of the plant managers would be arrested and investigated, with the Director of TMP, Kang Sae-won and Plant managers Kim Chae-chung and Lee Jang-ok, being sentenced to 7 years 5 months, 6 years 6 months, and 5 years 2 months imprisonment respectively, and Akamatsu Engineering being fined ₩36 Billion and ordered to pay ₩80 Billion towards the families of the workers killed or injured in the collapse.
What remained of Taejong Motor Plant was demolished in 1990. The site is now a park, the centre housing a monument memorialising the 294 workers who died in the collapse.
Parsons v. Akamatsu Engineering Corporation Limited (1993)
Richard Lee Parsons (Born 1956 in Wichita, Kansas) was an convicted American fraudster who filed a lawsuit with the Fukuoka High Court against Akamatsu Engineering Corporation, putting forward fradulent evidence that he had been present at the Taesong plant collapse four years prior, despite numerous survivors stating there had been no non-Korean workers on site at the time of the collapse, proven by that day’s punch card records and employee rosters. Parsons demanded $6.7 million in physical injuries, a further $15 million in emotional damages and mental anguish, as well as $560,000 for a car he supposedly owned that was crushed by the factory rubble, which was later found to be owned by 35-year-old union representative Han Seok-gu, who had died in the collapse. Yukio Tojima, the justice presiding over the case, reportedly laughed uncontrollably at the case file in private, which was very unusual for him as Tojima’s clerks and fellow justices stated that Tojima was usually a very serious and rather cold man, that he rarely smiled, never laughed and always had a straightforward, no-nonsense attitude and approach towards his work. The case was thrown out as “frivolous” and “grossly disrespectful to those who had died in the tragedy.”. Parsons filed an appeal which was swiftly dismissed, he would later be convicted and sentenced to 4 years in a Kansas District Court in the United States in 1999 after attempting to defraud Bank of America and barred from filing any lawsuits for 25 years. 58-year-old Richard Lee Parsons died of a blood clot in 2015.
Assassination of C.E.O Toichiro Kishida and 1985 Akamatsu Hostage Crisis
At 5:18PM JST on December 5, 1981, while being escorted to his company limousine to have dinner with other high-profile Japanese businessmen, then C.E.O and Chairman of Akamatsu Group Toichiro Kishida was shot four times in the head and chest by Japanese Red Army (JRA) member 23-year-old Yuki Majima, who was then shot dead by Kishida’s bodyguards 25-year-old Wakeda Shinohara and 38-year-old Kendo “Sumo” Himori. Himori reportedly shouted “Boss! Look out!” mere moments before Kishida was shot, in Kishida’s dying breath, he is reported to have said “It appears someone doesn’t like me very much, it is no surprise indeed.”, in an interview in 2004 with the now 63-year-old Himori (Shinohara had died in a construction accident in 1987), Himori spoke of Kishida in a positive light, stating that he had “treated him like a son” after his parents abandoned him at 14.
Majima had been hiding behind a corner near the Silver Star Grand Hotel front doors with just a single Saiko Model 26 pistol he had purchased the day before for upwards of two hours in the rain waiting for Kishida, whom he saw as the source of everything wrong with Japanese society, which according to a manifesto written by Majima sometime in 1977 or 1978, favoured rich businessmen’s wealth over the wellbeing of the average employee, with Kishida especially blocking the path to a communist revolution within Japan and eventually the world.
After being rushed to nearby Fukuoka National Hospital, 74-year-old Toichiro Kishida was pronounced dead 30 minutes after being shot. Vice-Chairman Kaito Furuta, succeeded Kishida as C.E.O and Chairman, both positions he would hold until his death following complications from a heart attack in 1994. In JRA circles, Majima was hailed as a hero who had slain a powerful, greedy capitalist, in the wider media, he was labelled as little more than a murderer who targeted an innocent, frail old man, as ordered by the violent JRA and by extension, the Japanese Communist Party, who worked to distance themselves from the JRA after the assassination.
On December 1, 1985, the daughter of Kaito Furuta, Sakura Furuta, then 17 years old, was kidnapped on her way to Tsukawa High School for the Gifted by JRA members 26-year-old Junzo Ozuma and 29-year-old Taro Kokumi, who later sent a letter to her father demanding he step down as C.E.O of Akamatsu as well as pay a ¥500,000,000 ransom for his daughter, giving a deadline of January 1, 1986 to meet the demands, or else they would kill his daughter and then him. Kaito Furuta, upon receiving this ransom note, and told the receptionist who handed him the note that he “wouldn’t be paying that communist scum a single yen.” and reported the kidnapping of his daughter to police. By December 5, police across Japan began raiding known JRA offices and arresting JRA members. During her internment, Sakura Furuta was treated well by her captors, however, they did threaten to kill her if she attempted to escape, nonetheless, Furuta attempted to escape an alleged 14 times before being rescued in a raid on a Kyoto warehouse by Kyoto Police in a raid on December 26, 1985.
During the raid, Ozuma held Furuta at gunpoint before being shot dead by rookie cop Hajime Umetsu, who later wrote a book in 2007 about his experiences serving as an officer. Kokumi opened fire at the raiding officers who returned fire, killing Kokumi and fellow JRA members Goji Hanakuza, Ryuji Tsugimaru and Kyoto officer Himiko Harada. After the raid, Furuta was returned to her father in strong spirits and attended the police funeral of Harada on January 4, 1986, the crisis made international headlines and further destroyed the already violent reputation of the JRA from the assassination of Kishida four years prior, the subsequent reports by Japanese and foreign media would lead to the 1986 murder of Finnish Communist Party (SKP) member Matti Varjö, who vocally supported the JRA, and the 1989 murders of Ishiro Gojima, a suspected JRA member later found to be not affiliated with the group and Kazuo Yutami, a prominent socialist critic of capitalism.
1992 and 1995 Singapore Corporate Murders
On Saturday July 18, 1992, the chairman of Akamatsu Southeast Asia, 58-year-old Teo Wai Leang and his mistress, 22-year-old Tan Ai Khung were stabbed to death in their Toa Payoh penthouse in Singapore by 37-year-old Sim Kah Yee (born March 1, 1955) and 29-year-old Malaysian Keh Cheng Hong (born c. 1962 or 1963). Sim, a disgruntled former senior executive who was fired five years prior for embezzlement, reportedly hated Teo for marrying his ex-wife and dismissing him from his privileged position at Akamatsu. Keh was a Malaysian working as an accountant in Singapore for Akamatsu, he was fired four months prior for poor work performance, which riddled him with crippling debts he could not pay, Keh and Sim had met in 1991 at a restaraunt in Ang Mo Kio by chance and both shared equal grudges against the chairman for perceived wrongdoings levied against the two of them personally.
After murdering Teo and Tan, Sim proceeded to steal S$198,000 in money and possessions and fled to Malaysia the next day, Keh, only thinking that he and Sim were going to merely rob the pair, had already fled the scene.
In 1995, 32-year-old Keh Cheng Hong, who had become desperate to pay off debts accumulated while on the run, shot at his former boss at a restaraunt in Jurong, 57-year-old Soh Kheng Cigarette factory director Leong Chin Lek and his associates, 39-year-old Kenny Toh Hong Kuah and 41-year-old Ng Hua Boon. Leong died instantly whereas Toh and Ng survived, albeit severely injured, Keh also injured Vietnamese tourists Võ Thành Nông and Lê Trần Sành, waiter Chia Lon Kwok and restaurant manager Soh Yip Phong. Lê died from his injuries a few hours later. Soh died from his injuries a week later. Chia and Võ survived.
Keh had intended to kill Leong because of his wealth and alleged maltreatment by Leong during Keh’s employment under him. Keh knew that Leong was a rich man who often boasted about and flaunted his wealth, always carrying at least S$5,000 with him at all times, Leong was carrying S$6,500 cash at the time of his death, which Keh stole along with Leong’s Rolex watch, which he sold for S$6,000.
Keh, who knew where Sim was hiding in Malaysia, gave him up to Singaporean authorities after he was captured in June 1996 after being betrayed by Lim Hui Choo, who had been harbouring Keh since December 1995, promising to smuggle him to Thailand, and then on to Australia, Lim was enticed to turn Keh over to the police since there was an offered S$15,000 reward for Keh’s capture, and a S$35,000 reward for Sim. After Keh’s arrest, Lim did not receive the promised S$15,000 reward as he had been harbouring Keh and was preparing to smuggle him out of Singapore.
According to Keh’s account, during the murder of Teo and Tan, Sim had refused to give him a share of the stolen money to pay off his crippling debts, instead keeping the stolen money and possessions for himself, which angered Keh greatly, Sim then threatened to kill Keh as well to silence him, which caused Keh to flee.
Found hiding in Johor under the alias Sim Kok Theng, 40-year-old Sim Kah Yee was arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police and extradited to Singapore. Both Sim and Keh stood trial before Singaporean judge Yong Kia Yeang on September 21, 1997. Vietnamese authorities at first requested that Keh be extradited to Vietnam for trial, where he would almost certainly be executed, as one of the Jurong shooting victims was a Vietnamese national, but Vietnam, satisfied with the justice brought upon Keh, retracted the request after sentencing.
In a trial lasting just 2 hours, both Keh Cheng Hong and Sim Kah Yee were found guilty of the 1992 murders of Teo Wai Leang and Tan Ai Khung, and the 1995 murders of Leong Chin Lek, Soh Yip Phong and Lê Trần Sành, and were sentenced to death. Sim appealed his sentence twice in 1999 and 2000, both of which were denied. Keh did not appeal his sentence.
46-year-old Sim Kah Yee and 36-year-old Keh Cheng Hong were both hanged at dawn at Changi Prison on May 1, 2001, alongside Kheng Yeh Lai, convicted of the 1994 murder of transgender prostitute Crystal Tay Chong Kiat, as well as Sek Keng Siong, who strangled Korean exchange students Seong Min-ju and Park Yeou-oh in 1997, and Chinese national Xie Zhaoming, who shot and killed his Singaporean wife Chye Teo Wan and an unidentified Thai man in 1990.
- The Protera WRC far overstretched it’s intended lifespan as a rally car, only replaced by the third generation Protera, introduced in 2008, after nine years of competition, but the second generation proved itself enough to continue use until the beginning of the 2008 season. Dubbed the “Flaming Missile” because of it’s bright orange livery. On February 25, 2015, it was inducted into the Akamatsu Automotive Heritage Museum, Akamatsu’s 20th Anniversary of competing in WRC.