TOKYO, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — Tokyo prosecutors on Wednesday indicted former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee executive Haruyuki Takahashi on charges of receiving some 54 million yen (370,000 U.S. dollars) in bribes from a major advertisement company and a firm that sold stuffed dolls of the games’ mascots.
The prosecutors suspects that Takahashi had advertising group ADK Holdings Inc. pay around 27 million yen over 50 occasions between November 2017 and January 2022 to his firm and around 20 million yen in December 2018 to a different consulting firm in exchange for using his influence in selecting the ADK as a marketing agent.
Takahashi is also suspected of accepting some 7 million yen in bribes on more than a dozen occasions between October 2018 and April 2021 from Sun Arrow Inc. for assisting the toy maker in securing a licensing agreement with the committee.
This was the fourth indictment against Takahashi, which adds to previous accusations against him of accepting bribes from three other companies in return for giving them preferential treatment in the process of picking sponsors of the global event.
The bribes allegedly received by Takahashi now total 196 million yen.
Japanese law prohibits members of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee from accepting money or gifts related to their duties. Violating this law constitutes bribery.