The corruption scandal surrounding the Tokyo Olympics swelled further on Wednesday with the arrest for the fourth time of a former senior official of the organization of the Olympics, as part of an investigation into possible bribes wine.
According to documents from Tokyo prosecutors consulted by AFP, Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, is this time accused of having received a total of some 54 million yen (368,000 euros) in bribes from a major advertising agency and a manufacturer of “licensed products”.
Prosecutors suspect him of helping advertiser ADK Holdings land a sponsorship deal in connection with the Games and receiving 47 million yen in exchange “knowing that it was compensation” for that.
Haruyuki Takahashi is also accused of having received 7 million yen from a company identified by Japanese media as Sun Arrow, a manufacturer of stuffed animals which notably produced mascots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics under license.
Three other people, including ADK chairman Shinichi Ueno, were also arrested on Wednesday.
“It is extremely regrettable that we find ourselves in this situation, and we would like to apologize for the enormous problems” caused by the arrests, ADK said in a statement.
Haruyuki Takahashi was first arrested in mid-August. He was then suspected of having received in 2017 the equivalent of more than 320,000 euros from Aoki Holdings, a Japanese chain of business suits stores, after the signing of a contract between his consulting company and this group, which in 2018 became an official partner of the Games.
Former executive of the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu, Takahashi is accused of having received bribes totaling 196 million yen (1.3 million euros) from companies including the group. publishing house Kadokawa and the advertising agency Daiko.
Suspicions of corruption have also long floated over the conditions for awarding Tokyo 2020… the Olympic Games which finally took place in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In March 2019, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee Tsunekazu Takeda resigned a few months after being indicted by French justice. He is suspected of having paid Black Tidings, a company based in Singapore and described as an “empty shell” by French investigators, before and after the designation of the Japanese capital by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).