The FSA said securities investigators have been probing 120 cases involving AIJ clients since January.

WSJ: Japanese Fund Loses $2.3 Billion

The president of AIJ Investment Advisors, Kazuhiko Asakawa, who was arrested last month for fraud, once worked for Nomura.

BBC: Nomura battles image crisis as new chief takes charge

Microchip-testing-equipment maker Advantest Corp. and industrial-robot maker Yaskawa Electric Corp. have confirmed that they placed pension money with AIJ.

WSJ: Japanese Fund Loses $2.3 Billion

Phone calls to AIJ's office in central Tokyo were automatically routed to an answering machine asking callers to try again later.

WSJ: Japanese Fund Loses $2.3 Billion

In a statement, Advantest said it has about 1.7 billion yen in outstanding investments deposited with AIJ, equal to about 8% of its total pension-fund investments.

WSJ: Japanese Fund Loses $2.3 Billion

Underlining the gravity of the case, Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi said at a news conference in the capital that the regulator, the Financial Services Agency, will now scrutinize operations at all 263 investment-management firms in Japan because of the AIJ investigation.

WSJ: Japanese Fund Loses $2.3 Billion