An executive at Japanese publishing house Kadokawa was found guilty Tuesday of bribing a former member of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee.
Toshiyuki Yoshihara, who allegedly paid $463,000 to Haruyuki Takahashi, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years.
That means he avoids prison, as long as he doesn’t break the law in the next four years.
Tokyo District Court Chief Judge Yoshihisa Nakao said Yoshihara wanted Kadokawa to have the advantage of being a sponsor, which he believed would increase his brand power.
“Trust in the fairness of the Games has been broken,” Nakao said, insisting Yoshihara knew the payments were illegal and sought to disguise them as consulting fees.
Haruyuki Takahashi wears a face mask during a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting on the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak on March 30, 2020. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The sentence was suspended because Yoshihara had expressed remorse, and his wife had promised to take care of him, Nakao said.
Yoshihara said, “Yes,” once, in accepting the verdict, but otherwise said nothing, and bowed repeatedly as he left the courtroom.
The verdict for Yoshihara, who was arrested last year, is the latest in a series of corruption trials over sponsorship and licensing of products for the Tokyo Games.
The former Tokyo Olympic executive was sentenced to two years in prison and suspended for four years. AP
The Kadokawa Group has been selected as a sponsor and publishes the Sports program and handbook.
The balloon scandal has tarnished the Olympic image in Japan, affecting Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Games.
A formal announcement on the bid is expected Wednesday, after the mayor meets with Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita, a judo gold medalist and IOC member, a Sapporo city official said.
The balloon scandal has tarnished the image of the Olympics in Japan. AFP via Getty Images
At the center of the scandal is Takahashi, a former executive at the advertising company Dentsu, who joined the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee in 2014, and has great influence in arranging sponsorship for the Games.
Takahashi says he is innocent. His trial has not yet started.
Fifteen people at five companies face trial in the corruption scandal.
Other companies are Aoki Holdings, a clothing company that equips Japan’s Olympic team, Daiko Advertising Inc., Sun Arrow, which makes mascots, and ADK, an advertising company.
An official at a consulting company called Amuse was given a suspended sentence in July after being found guilty of helping Takahashi accept bribes in return for part of the money.
Given the various allegations, the money funneled to Takahashi totaled about $1.3 million.
Haruyuki Takahashi says he is innocent, as his trial has not yet started.POOL/AFP via Getty Images
In Tuesday’s hearing, Yoshihara was accused of working with Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, a high-ranking official at Kadokawa, the son of the founder and a major figure in Japan’s film and entertainment industry, as well as with Kyoji Maniwa, another senior official at Kadokawa.
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Maniwa, accused of depositing the money into Takahashi’s account, was given a suspended sentence in June. Tsuguhiko Kadokawa also faces trial.
In April, Aoki’s founder Hironori Aoki and two other company officials were convicted of handing over $188,000 in bribes to Takahashi and received suspended sentences.
In July, the former head of ADK, Shinichi Ueno, was sentenced to death after being convicted of paying $94,000 to Takahashi.
Members of the organizing committee, as quasi-public officials, are prohibited from accepting money or goods from those seeking help.
Those who accept bribes are usually given harsher sentences in Japan than those who pay them.
The Tokyo Games have been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
