OSAKA (TR) – Police right here have arrested a 48-year-old municipal official in Daito City on suspicion of accepting bribes within the type of dwelling home equipment in alternate for funneling dozens of no-bid public contracts to an area firm, stories the Sankei Shimbun (June 17).
Kimihiko Sano, a chief examiner within the metropolis’s municipal housing administration division, is accused of receiving 5 electrical home equipment from Masaki Nitta, the 35-year-old consultant director of Daito-based M.N. Corporation. In return, Sano allegedly supplied the agency with preferential remedy in city-commissioned tasks.
Nitta has additionally been arrested on suspicion of bribery. On the afternoon of June 17, Osaka Prefectural Police raided Daito City Hall to uncover the complete extent of the connection between the 2 males.
According to metropolis officers, Sano awarded M.N. Corporation 55 discretionary contracts over a two-year interval after assuming his present position. Prior to his appointment, the town had no observe file of doing enterprise with the agency. The contracts funneled to the corporate have been collectively price roughly 21.17 million yen.
To bypass customary aggressive bidding, Sano allegedly requested estimates solely from Nitta’s firm. He justified the single-bidder course of to the town by claiming the tasks have been “issues directly linked to daily life that require prompt execution.”
Daito Mayor Nobuko Osaka issued a public apology within the wake of the arrests.
“I apologize for this situation, which has damaged public trust in our municipal administration,” the mayor stated. She indicated that the town will implement strict preventative measures, together with mandating a number of estimates even for minor discretionary contracts.