TOKYO – Japan’s biggest advertising agency Dentsu and five other companies were indicted on Tuesday for allegedly violating an anti-monopoly law in a corruption scandal over bid-rigging for the Tokyo Olympics.
The indictment followed the arrest in February of a senior Tokyo 2020 organising committee official and three others who were accused of rigging a string of Olympic Games-related tenders.
Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) confirmed on Tuesday that it has filed criminal complaints against the six companies.
“We determined that this is a malicious and serious case that will have a broad impact on people’s lives,” FTC investigator Goh Okumura told a media briefing.
According to local media, Dentsu Group president Hiroshi Igarashi has already admitted to Tokyo prosecutors that his firm is liable.
Prosecutors unveiled charges against the company as well as leading advertising firms Hakuhodo and Tokyu Agency, and event operators Same Two, Cerespo and Fuji Creative Corp. All six companies had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.
Seven company executives and officials were also named in the indictment, which did not specify who worked for which firm.
The firms and executives “colluded to restrict each other’s business activity with regard to the awarding of contracts” for Olympic test events, a statement from prosecutors said.
Their actions “went against the public interest and effectively restricted competition”.
Tokyo prosecutors arrested former Tokyo 2020 official Yasuo Mori in February for allegedly violating the anti-monopoly law, along with Koji Hemmi, a former Dentsu executive, and two businessmen.
The four allegedly rigged a string of open competitive bids and limited tender contracts for Olympic events, reportedly worth a total of 40 billion yen (S$394 million).
In a Washington Post article reporting on the issue, it is said that “the maximum penalty for a company convicted of bid-rigging is a fine of up to 500 million yen, while an individual, if found guilty, faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to five million yen”.
Prosecutors are also investigating claims a former Tokyo 2020 board member took money from companies in exchange for Olympic partnership deals.
Haruyuki Takahashi was arrested for allegedly pocketing bribes that reportedly amounted to nearly 200 million yen.
Companies implicated in the bribery cases include a suit retailer, a publishing firm and a merchandise company licensed to sell soft toys of the Games mascots.
Shinichi Ueno, the former president of ADK Holdings, Japan’s third-largest advertising agency, has pleaded guilty to offering Takahashi at least 14 million yen.
In December, a former executive from major clothing company Aoki Holdings also admitted in court that he offered money to secure sponsorship rights, according to national broadcaster NHK.
The cases have cast a shadow over Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Games, prompting the northern city to halt its campaign and organise a nationwide poll to assess support.
“It would be truly regrettable if there were unfair activities in bidding linked to the Tokyo Games,” top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said as reports of the new indictments emerged.
Questions had been raised over impropriety around the Tokyo Games even before the event took place a year later in 2021 because of Covid-19.
The former head of Japan’s Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, stepped down in 2019 after French prosecutors launched an investigation into corruption allegations linked to Tokyo’s bid.
AFP, REUTERS
