Four More Japanese Firms Searched In Tokyo Olympics Corruption Case - Reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2022) Japanese prosecutors and a trade watchdog on Monday searched four more national companies in a case of corruption and violation of antitrust laws in bids for organizing test competitions as part of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, media reported.

The new firms under suspicion include Japan's advertising companies Hakuhodo Inc. and Tokyo Agency, as well as production firms Fuji Creative Corporation and Same Two Inc, according to the Japanese Kyodo news agency.

Last Friday, one of Japanese largest advertising companies, Dentsu, and event management firm Cerespo were also raided in the same case, the media outlet reported.

In 2018, Japan's Olympics organizing committee held 26 bids to select contractors for preparing test events. The prosecutor's office suspected that the committee was in cahoots with winners of the bids, as a result of which nine companies, including Dentsu, received contracts worth over 500 million Yen (about $3.6 million). If this is proven, firms may face charges of violating antitrust laws.

A large-scale investigation into the Olympics corruption case was launched in August, after Haruyuki Takahashi, a former member of the Tokyo organizing committee, was arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes for contracts from various firms. In particular, he is suspected of receiving bribes of around 51 million yen from the business suit company Aoki Holdings Inc, 76 million yen from the Kadokawa Corp. media conglomerate, and 15 million yen from the Daiko Advertising Inc. company.

Prosecutors believe that some of the bribes were transferred to Takahashi's accounts and to the accounts of a consulting firm owned by his colleague from Dentsu � Takahashi's old workplace, where he served as a member of the board.

In October, Japanese prosecutors also searched Sun Arrow Inc., a producer of toy mascots for the Tokyo Olympics, and the ADK Holdings advertising company, the third largest in the country, in the corruption case. Both companies are believed to have paid bribes worth a total of 54 million yen to Takahashi.

ADK Holdings admitted in November that it had participated in bid rigging to obtain the right to organize test events during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. This confession sparked the current wave of searches in other companies.

In total, the former executive member of Olympic organizing committee is charged with taking bribes in the amount of 196 million yen, which was close to $2 million at the time of committing the alleged crimes.