The former president of a company sponsoring the Tokyo-2020 Olympic Games and two other businessmen received suspended prison sentences, in the first sentence for the bribery scandal surrounding the sporting event.
The corruption allegations emerged after the pandemic-postponed event, implicating major companies in the country and weighing down Japan’s chances of hosting the 2030 Winter Games in Sapporo.
A Tokyo district court spokesman told AFP that Hironori Aoki, former head of luxury suit company Aoki Holdings, had received a suspended sentence of two-and-a-half years in jail.
The judge said his “criminal responsibility is significant.”
The 84-year-old businessman pleaded guilty in December to allegations that he and two colleagues had paid Tokyo-2020 organizers to receive preferential treatment, according to Japanese media.
Prosecutors sought prison time for Aoki, but the court opted for a four-year suspended sentence.
Aoki Holdings became a Tokyo-2020 sponsor in October 2018, allowing it to use the logo and officially sell products for the Games, which were delayed by a year and held with hardly any crowds because of the pandemic.
Its former president was arrested in August along with two other heads of the firm and a member of the Games organization, Haruyuki Takahashi.
The other two businessmen also received suspended prison sentences of one year and 18 months respectively on Friday. Takahashi’s trial has not yet begun but he has pleaded not guilty.
According to prosecution documents previously seen by AFP, Takahashi allegedly received $380,000 from Aoki Holdings executives “with the understanding that it was thank-you money for beneficial and preferential treatment.”
– Damage to trust –
“These criminal acts damaged society’s confidence in the fair conduct of the Games, which attracted worldwide attention and were important for the country,” Judge Kenji Yasunaga said in comments broadcast by Jiji Press.
Aoki, who ordered a colleague to destroy evidence in the case, “wanted to pursue his company’s interests,” the magistrate considered.
“We take the sentence seriously and will do our best to prevent recidivism and win back the trust of our consumers,” a company spokeswoman told AFP.
The corruption scandal also splashed Japan’s biggest advertising agency, Dentsu Group, which in February was indicted along with five other companies for allegedly violating antitrust laws.
Other companies involved include a major publishing house and a marketing company that sold plush toys of the sporting event’s mascots.
Senior Tokyo-2020 organizing committee official Yasuo Mori and three other officials were also arrested on suspicion of rigging public tenders for the Games.
And the former president of ADK Holdings, the country’s third-largest advertising company, pleaded guilty to offering Takahashi at least 14 million yen ($105,000).
This scandal is not the first to question the conduct linked to these Games.
French prosecutors launched an investigation into allegations of corruption linked to Tokyo’s 2016 bid.
The former head of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, resigned in 2019 after French authorities proved his involvement in payments made before Tokyo was chosen to host the Games.