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Ex-Aoki head found guilty over Tokyo Games bribery

This file photo taken on July 15, 2021 shows a man walking past a logo of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo on July 15, 2021. The former chairman of a Tokyo 2020 Olympics sponsor was handed a suspended prison sentence on April 21, 2023, along with two others, in the first convictions in a spiralling bribery scandal surrounding the Games. (AFP)
This file photo taken on July 15, 2021 shows a man walking past a logo of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo on July 15, 2021. The former chairman of a Tokyo 2020 Olympics sponsor was handed a suspended prison sentence on April 21, 2023, along with two others, in the first convictions in a spiralling bribery scandal surrounding the Games. (AFP)
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21 Apr 2023 03:04:26 GMT9
21 Apr 2023 03:04:26 GMT9

TOKYO: Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced former Aoki Holdings Inc. Chairman Hironori Aoki to 30 months in prison, suspended for four years, for giving bribes over the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2021.

It was the first ruling handed down in a high-profile corruption scandal in which 15 people, including Aoki and Haruyuki Takahashi, a former executive of the Tokyo Games organizing committee, have been indicted.

Takahashi’s side has been accused of receiving a total of nearly 200 million yen in bribes from Aoki Holdings and four other companies.

Aoki, 84, was found guilty of giving bribes in the name of consultant fees to Takahashi, 79. The prosecution had demanded a prison term of 30 months for Aoki.

“Aoki and others who wanted to pursue the company’s interests and Takahashi, who wished to gain profits in return, committed the crime under an agreement,” presiding Judge Kenji Yasunaga said.

Aoki’s younger brother and former Aoki Holdings vice chairman, Takahisa, 77, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years. Former Aoki Holdings senior managing director Katsuhisa Ueda, 41, received a prison sentence of 12 months, suspended for three years.

Yasunaga said that Takahashi “had a strong authority” as an organizing committee executive as he had been assigned by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, then committee president, to find Tokyo Games sponsors. The elder Aoki and others “relied on (Takahashi’s) influence and made a wide variety of requests,” the judge said.

The crime “damaged people’s trust in the fair management of a key national event that drew global attention,” Yasunaga said.

Claiming that the elder Aoki led the bribery and instructed Ueda to destruct evidence, the judge said the former Aoki Holdings chairman’s criminal responsibility is “significantly grave.”

According to the indictment, the elder Aoki asked a favor from Takahashi in conspiracy with Takahisa and Ueda over the selection of Tokyo Games sponsors, sales of officially licensed products and orders for official uniforms for Japanese athletes.

The three have been accused of sending a total of 51 million yen to a company owned by Takahashi between October 2017 and March 2022 under the name of consultation fees. They have been charged over 28 million yen of the suspected bribes, as the statute of limitations for giving bribes in Japan is three years.

JIJI Press

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