News Dentsu and five other firms indicted over Olympics bid-rigging

[thomas]

For months, Dentsu, the largest advertising company in Japan, has been facing scrutiny for its role in the controversial Tokyo Olympics and its cosy relationship with the Japanese government. The company was involved in critical decisions related to the games, such as selecting the logo and proceeding with the event during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last Tuesday, Tokyo prosecutors indicted Dentsu, five other firms, and seven individuals over alleged bid-rigging on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics contracts after the Fair Trade Commission filed criminal complaints against them. The indictment marks the latest development in months of investigations into alleged corruption in the planning and sponsorship of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, held in 2021 after a pandemic-driven postponement.

Even before the Tokyo Olympics began, concerns about wrongdoing had surfaced. In 2016, French authorities said they had uncovered millions of dollars of payments made by Tokyo's Olympic organizing committee to a Singaporean firm to secure the winning bid to host the Games. The scandal led the head of the National Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, to resign. Mr Takeda has denied any wrongdoing in the years since additional corruption allegations have tainted the reputations of some of Japan's most prominent companies.

In August, prosecutors arrested top executives from the publishing giant Kadokawa and the business clothing retailer Aoki Holdings on bribery charges. A former Dentsu executive, Haruyuki Takahashi, who served on the committee's executive board charged with organizing the Tokyo Games, was also arrested. He has denied the charges against him. In December, Aoki Holdings' founder, Hironori Aoki, pleaded guilty to giving around $205,000 to Mr Takahashi. In a court appearance this month, the ex-president of the Japanese marketing company ADK admitted to paying Mr Takahashi over $100,000 as his company sought marketing opportunities linked to the Games.

Japan Accuses Ad Giant Dentsu of Rigging Bids for Tokyo Olympics (Published 2023)

Prosecutors said the company and five others had conspired to evade the public bidding process for test events, part of a widening investigation into corruption surrounding the Games.

www.nytimes.com

Dentsu and five other firms indicted over Olympics bid-rigging

The indictment marks the latest development in months of investigations into alleged corruption in the planning and sponsorship of the Tokyo Games.

www.japantimes.co.jp

 

[thomas]

Former Kadokawa Chairman Kadokawa Tsuguhiko, who was implicated in the Tokyo Olympic bribery case but has maintained his innocence, has filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, claiming that his months-long detention is unconstitutional. The lawsuit, filed at the Tokyo District Court, seeks 220 million JPY (approximately USD 1.3m) in damages. Kadokawa is accused of providing 69 million JPY (around USD 430,000) between 2019 and 2021 to a former Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Organizing Committee board member. This payment was made in exchange for the publisher being selected as a sponsor for the 2021 Games.

According to his lawsuit, he was held at a Tokyo detention center for seven months, from September 2022 until his release on bail in April 2023. A court denied his defense team's request for his release three times on grounds that he could destroy evidence. He stated that he was a victim of a Japanese practice in which a suspect who insists on innocence will be held in detention for a long period of time. He said the practice is a violation of the Constitution that states no person should be detained without adequate cause.

Former Kadokawa chairman sues the government for damages | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

The former chairman of Japanese publisher Kadokawa has sued the government for damages, saying that it is unconstitutional to detain him for months when he insisted on innocence in a Tokyo Olympic bribery case.

www3.nhk.or.jp

Kadokawa said at the news conference that he hopes the court will examine the problem with this practice and issue a landmark ruling.

Mr Ghosn should have fought it out in court, too.

 

[nice gaijin]

I knew when my logo submission wasn't selected that it must be rigged!

 

[Majestic]

Oh my God, that whole logo debacle was just an embarrassment. The initial logo was horrible. Then when it became apparent that the design "might have been" plagiarized, they arranged a committee to pick a new logo by public submissions. There were some lovely, colorful logos submitted. And then the committee chose the LEAST popular logo! It was just mind blowing.

Tokyo 2020 Unveils New Logos After Plagiarism Scandal

An emblem inspired by the ancient gods of wind and thunder is among a shortlist of logos for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics unveiled Friday.

www.nbcnews.com

But that was just a taste of the horrible mess the Tokyo Olympics would become. Not all of it was the fault of scandal, but my God the IOC is drenched in corruption, and countries (and corporations) always seem keen to feed into this perpetual corruption device.

 

[mdchachi]

Mr Ghosn should have fought it out in court, too.

I'm sure he was. Until he found a more expedient way to proceed.

 

[thomas]

The iconic Japanese advertising agency Dentsu was fined ¥300 million (~$1.944 million U.S.) by the Tokyo District Court for its role in the test-event bid-rigging scandal with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizing committee. Koji Hemmi, a former assistant director of the Dentsu sports division and one of the ringleaders of the bid-fixing project, received a sentence of two years in prison suspended for four years. Dentsu and Hemmi have both appealed.

TOKYO 2020: Dentsu fined ¥300 million for role in Tokyo Olympic bid-rigging scandal, but says it will appeal - The Sports Examiner

TOKYO 2020: Dentsu fined ¥300 million for role in Tokyo Olympic bid-rigging scandal, but says it will appeal - The Sports Examiner - Your all-in-one coverage of Olympic-sports news, views, previews and results.

www.thesportsexaminer.com

 

[nice gaijin]

so, when do I get my check!?

 

[thomas]

so, when do I get my check!?

Remember, you heard it here first.