TOKYO OLYMPICS CORRUPTION - PART 16

 Olympics corruption prosecutes former board member for bribery from Daiko, total 142 million yen

In a corruption case involving the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Special Investigation Division filed an indictment in the Tokyo District Court on March 18 against Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, a former director of the Organizing Committee of the Games, for accepting bribes of approximately 15 million yen from Osaka City advertising company Ohhiro in exchange for facilitating the selection of an agency for the Games sponsorship agreement. The former director has already been charged with receiving 51 million yen from men's clothing giant AOKI Holdings and about 76 million yen from publishing giant KADOKAWA, bringing the total amount of bribes indicted to about 142 million yen.

In addition, the Special Investigation Department also charged Kazumasa Fukami (73), the former president of the consulting firm "Commons 2", which is said to have been a "receptacle" for bribes, and Daihiro executive officer Yoshikazu Taniguchi (57) with bribery.

According to the indictment, around January 2014 ~ January 21, Executive Officer Taniguchi asked the former director to negotiate the sponsorship contract of the language school management company ▽ to reduce the sponsorship fee ▽ to expedite the conclusion of the contract. In addition, it is said that the former director and the former president Fukami conspired to receive bribes totaling about 15 million yen on four occasions in return for favors to Ohiro from January 19 ~ February 22. Executive Officer Taniguchi was charged with approximately 6 million yen, for which the statute of limitations for bribery charges (three years) has not expired.

According to officials, the former board member has denied the charges, saying he "does not recognize them." In addition, Ohiro stated on March 18 that it had established an internal committee to formulate measures to prevent recurrence, and that "the entire company will work to restore trust."

Regarding the former director, it is said that he received about 19 million yen from the major advertising company "ADK Holdings" and about 8 million yen from the toy company "Sun Arrow", which sold stuffed toys of the tournament mascot, to a consulting company where a golf friend serves as president, and the Special Investigation Department seems to be investigating these two routes as well.

HARUYUKI TAKAHASHI

Tokyo Olympics corruption, former board member arrested for fourth time, bribery charges, total 5 routes

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Special Investigation Division re-arrested Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, a former member of the organizing committee of the Games, on suspicion of bribery for accepting bribes totaling about 54 million yen from ADK Holdings (Tokyo), a major advertising company, and Sun Arrow, a toy company, in a corruption case involving the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is the fourth time the former board member has been arrested. ADK President Shinichi Ueno, 68, and two former executives were also arrested on suspicion of bribery.

The allegations of funding the former board member were brought to five routes, with ADK and Sun Arrow joining the three routes of men's clothing giant AOKI Holdings (Yokohama City), publishing giant KADOKAWA (Tokyo), and advertising company Ohiro (Osaka City). The total amount of bribes prosecuted totaled about 196 million yen.

The arrest of former board member ADK Root alleges that ADK's predecessor "Asatsu DK" received a total of about 47 million yen in bribes from President Ueno and others in November 2017 ~ January this year in return for a request from President Ueno and others to be selected as a subcontractor of Dentsu (Tokyo), a major advertising company that served as a full-time agent for the organizing committee to collect sponsors for the Olympics.

In addition, Sun Arrowroot is arrested and allegedly received a bribe of about 7 million yen from October '18 ~ April '21 in return for a request from company executives to smoothly conclude a license agreement that would allow him to sell stuffed toys of the tournament mascots "Miraitowa" and "Someity".

Under the ADK route, about 27 million yen out of about 47 million yen was transferred to the consulting firm "Commons" represented by a former director, and the remaining about 20 million yen was transferred to a consulting company headed by a golf friend of a former director. About 7 million yen from Sun Arrow was also sent to the same consulting company. This consulting company seems to have been dormant at the time. The Special Investigation Department filed a lawsuit against ADK for approximately 14 million yen, for which the statute of limitations for bribery charges (three years) has not been established. No one has been arrested on the Sun Arrow side this time, and the Special Investigation Department is expected to proceed with the investigation at home.

According to the officials, ADK was selected as a subcontractor of Dentsu under a sponsorship agreement with parking lot service company Park24 (Tokyo), but it is suspected that the former director encouraged Dentsu to use ADK. The former board member has admitted to sending money from Sun Arrow but denies bribery. He said he didn't know about the remittance from ADK.

SAPPORO - CITY IN HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

Tokyo Olympics corruption, national and metropolitan governments are reluctant to investigate, voices threatening Sapporo's bid

The corruption case surrounding the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games led to the new arrest of Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, a former member of the organizing committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, on the 19th, expanding the route of the case to five. As suspicions continue to surface, there is no concrete move by the country or Tokyo that has been waving the flag of hosting the Olympics to embark on an investigation. The escalation of the incident has inevitably damaged the image of the Olympics in Japan, and there are growing fears about Sapporo's bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics.

"Primarily, it is a matter that should be dealt with primarily by the JOC (Japan Olympic Committee), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the organizing committee." August 23, six days after the former director's first arrest. During opposition hearings with relevant ministries and agencies in the Diet, officials from the Japan Sports Agency repeatedly responded cautiously to questions about the responsibility of the state.

The organizing committee is a public interest incorporated foundation established by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the JOC. It was dissolved in June this year, and the liquidation corporation took over the backlog and materials. On the other hand, the national government established the Games Promotion Headquarters in the Cabinet Secretariat based on the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but its legal authority was limited to requesting materials and explanations from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the JOC. The promotion headquarters was also disbanded in March this year, and the government's stance is that there is no legal basis for its own verification.

In addition, the sponsorship contract at issue in this case had a confidentiality clause between the organizing committee and the company. A representative from the agency emphasized in an interview, "Even if the promotion headquarters had remained, the organizing committee would not have submitted the materials for reasons of confidentiality.

On the other hand, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the JOC are also reluctant to verify the matter. The organizing committee was dispatched by up to about 7,000 staff members from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, ministries, and about 400 companies and organizations, and the largest number of secondments from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was about 1,000. Of the total cost of the Games of 1,423.8 billion yen, the burden borne by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was 596.5 billion yen, second only to the 640.4 billion yen borne by the organizing committee, and about three times that of the national government (186.9 billion yen).

OFFICIAL LOGO OF JAPAN OLYMPICS 2020

At a regular session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on September 28, the Communist Party's Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly asked the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to investigate corruption cases at the Olympics, which have a public character, but Governor Yuriko Koike replied, "We will ask the liquidation corporation to fully cooperate with the investigation." A Tokyo executive said, "Verification is not supposed to be the business of a clearing corporation, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has no choice but to keep an eye on the investigation."

In addition, the JOC responded to the press that it would "work on operational reforms with Sapporo City to bid for the Winter Olympics and firmly demonstrate transparency and fairness, and when establishing the organizing committee after the bid is decided, we will consider specific response plans together with many related organizations," and expressed a negative attitude toward immediately starting verification.

The opaque flow of funds surrounding the Games is awaited to be fully clarified by the investigation by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Special Investigation Department, but there are other problems, such as the process of appointing the organizing committee directors. In April '14, the organizing committee signed a contract with Dentsu, a major advertising company, as a dedicated agency to collect sponsors, and two months later, it elected former director Takahashi as the last member of the 35 directors. As if waiting for Dentsu to become a contractor, a former JOC employee testified, "Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who was the chairman of the organizing committee at the time, held personnel authority, and there were voices from that time whether there would be a conflict of interest by making Mr. Takahashi, the former managing director of Dentsu, the organizing committee director."

Naofumi Masumoto, a visiting professor of Olympic studies at Tokyo Metropolitan University, said, "The organizing committee, the JOC, the national government, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government should look back on the corruption cases at the Olympics thoroughly, and it is strange that no opinions on countermeasures have emerged. If we go ahead with the Sapporo bid without verification, there is a possibility that it will lead to the people of Sapporo leaving the Olympics even more."