TOKYO - Around ¥40 billion (S$405.4 million) worth of contracts were awarded to firms who were allegedly involved in bidding corruption for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic test events, reported Kyodo News.
Sources told the newspaper that collusion has been linked to 26 open bids from May to August 2018.
The contracts were awarded to nine companies, including advertising companies Dentsu and Hakuhodo. Almost half of the 26 had just one bidder.
Website insidethegames also reported that several officials at Dentsu admitted last week to bid rigging at the test events.
The company had initially denied the claims.
Prosecutors believe the bid rigging constituted a violation of the anti-monopoly law, while Kyodo said that these officials had insisted that they did not know what they were doing was an illegal act.
Meanwhile, Japanese prosecutors on Wednesday sought a 2½-year prison term for the former chairman of business apparel chain operator Aoki Holdings Inc in a bribery case connected to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In the closing argument at the Tokyo District Court, the prosecution said Hironori Aoki, 84, “used the Games for personal greed, eroding confidence domestically and abroad in the Games’ operations”.
It added that the “extreme maliciousness” of his actions warrants a prison term of 2½ years.
The prosecution also asked for 1½ years in prison for Takahisa Aoki, 77, the company’s former vice-chairman.
It also asked for one year for Katsuhisa Ueda, 41, a former senior managing director.
All three had pleaded guilty to the bribery charges in December.
The defence argued for handing the trio suspended sentences.
The court is scheduled to issue its ruling on April 21.
According to the indictment, the three defendants asked former Tokyo Games organising committee executive Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, to give the company favours over Tokyo Games sponsorship contracts and contracts to sell licensed goods.
The bribes paid amounted to ¥28 million between September 2019 and March 2022.
In his closing statements, Hironori Aoki said: “I regret deeply. I apologise.”
Separately, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) insisted on Tuesday that the sporting sanctions on Russia and Belarus, imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, were “non-negotiable”.
The head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, said earlier in the day that athletes representing Russia must not be subjected to different conditions than those of other countries.
That, amid a growing row over their possible participation in the Paris 2024Olympic Games.
In response, the IOC said the rules banning Russians from competing under the Russian flag, anthem or colours would remain in place.
“The sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian state and governments are not negotiable,” an IOC spokesman said.
The IOC said last week that athletes from the two countries, banned from competing in Europe, might be allowed to earn slots for Paris 2024 through Asian qualifying systems, but only as neutrals.
The Olympic Council of Asia had offered Russian and Belarusian athletes the chance to compete in Asia, drawing an outcry from Kyiv, which has called for Russian sportspeople to be banned. THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, AFP, REUTERS
