A former president of a company sponsoring the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and two other businessmen received suspended prison sentences for their involvement in a bribery scandal surrounding the sporting event. The corruption allegations emerged after the pandemic-postponed event, involving major Japanese companies and affecting Japan’s chances of hosting the 2030 Winter Games in Sapporo.
The former head of luxury suit company Aoki Holdings, Hironori Aoki, received a suspended sentence of two and a half years in prison. The other two businessmen also received suspended prison sentences of one year and 18 months, respectively. The trial of another member of the Games organization, Haruyuki Takahashi, has not yet begun, but he has pleaded not guilty. According to the prosecution, Takahashi received $380,000 from Aoki Holdings executives “with the understanding that it was thank-you money for beneficial and preferential treatment.”
The judge stated that Aoki’s criminal liability was significant and that “these criminal acts damaged society’s confidence in the fair conduct of the Games, which attracted worldwide attention and were important to the country.” The scandal also involved Japan’s largest advertising agency, Dentsu Group, which in February was indicted along with five other companies for allegedly violating antitrust laws. Others implicated include a major publishing house and a marketing company that sold stuffed animals of sporting event mascots.
This scandal is not the first to call into question conduct linked to the Games. The French prosecutor’s office 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.