Tokyo District Prosecutors have indicted Kobe Steel for faking the strength and quality data of the products it sold to hundreds of clients.

"We once again deeply apologise for the considerable trouble we have caused to our customers, suppliers, shareholders and many others concerning the misconduct at Kobe Steel Ltd and its group companies," the company said in a release following the indictment (.pdf link).

Kobe Steel supplies makers of cars, planes and trains around the world, including aluminum castings and copper tubes for autos, aircraft, appliances, and trains.  Major manufacturers such as Boeing, Toyota, and General Motors are impacted.  The companies are investigating if they had purchased defective or substandard materials, but so far no quality issues have been reported.

Last October, the company admitted that it discovered 525 incidents of employees committing "misconduct" on data presented for quality inspections over a span of several years.  But even after that, through March of this year, the company isolated yet another 168 falsifications. 

Prosecutors say the systematic faking of data took place at various plants throughout Japan.