The accusations of bribery against a former member of the organizing committee of Tokyo Olympics expanded on Tuesday when Japanese prosecutors “rearrested”. Haruyuki Takahashi in a case involving alleged payments from a publisher who sponsored the Games.
The latest accusations center on 76 million yen ($540,000) that Takahashi received from Editorial Kadokawa, based in Tokyo, according to Tokyo district prosecutors. The sponsorship allowed Kadokawa, which also produces films and games, to publish programs and other books related to the Tokyo Olympics.
Two Kadokawa officials were also arrested on Tuesday, Toshiyuki Yoshihara and Kyoji Maniwa, who allegedly deposited the money. Takahashi has been in jail since his arrest last month on suspicion of taking bribes from clothing manufacturer Aoki Holdings. He was indicted on Tuesday for accepting 51 million yen ($360,000) in bribes from Aoki.
The money was deposited into a bank account at Takahashi’s company from October 2017 to March this year, in Aoki’s bid to become an Olympic sponsor and produce licensed products, prosecutors said. Aoki, who makes “recruitment suits” that high school graduates wear to job interviews, was a surprise choice to dress the Japanese Olympic team when other countries had top fashion brands designing uniforms.
Kazumasa Fukami, director of a consulting company, was arrested as suspected of helping Takahashi accept bribes. Takahashi, a former executive at the Dentsu advertising company, had enormous influence in organizing Olympic sponsorships. Takahashi stepped down from Dentsu’s board of directors in 2009, but continued to exert considerable influence in Japan’s advertising and event management industry and ran his own company.
Japanese media quoted Takahashi as insisting on his innocence and saying the payments were for consulting services. Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chairman of Kadokawa, who is not directly involved in the accusations, denied that his company offered any bribes, Japanese media reported.
On Monday, Tokyo prosecutors searched Daiko Advertising’s offices in Osaka and Tokyo as part of an investigation into Olympic corruption. The scandal could cause a setback for Japan’s ambitions ahead of the 2030 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Seiko Hashimoto, a lawmaker and Olympian who ran the Tokyo Olympics, has pledged to cooperate with the investigation.
Source: La Verdad
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