Ex-Tokyo Video games exec allegedly offered go well with retailer’s ‘want checklist’ to organizing committee

TOKYO — A former Tokyo Video games organizing committee government is suspected to have offered an inventory of requests from enterprise clothes big Aoki Holdings Inc. to the committee over the occasion, apparently prompting the latter to reside as much as the corporate’s needs relating to the manufacturing of formally licensed fits for the Japanese Olympic and Paralympic delegations, sources near the matter have revealed to the Mainichi Shimbun.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Workplace’s particular investigation unit is seemingly probing the allegations involving Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, a former government board member of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Video games, who was just lately arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes in reference to the collection of sponsors for the Video games.

In keeping with the sources, Takahashi met with former Aoki Holdings chairman Hironori Aoki, 83, a number of instances, together with at a steak restaurant in Tokyo operated by Takahashi. The conferences, presumably to barter sponsorship charges, started round January 2017, about one 12 months and 9 months earlier than the agency was formally named a Video games sponsor.

The ex-chairman’s youthful brother and former deputy chairman of the retailer, Takahisa Aoki, 76, and Katsuhisa Ueda, 40, an government director of the agency, reportedly joined a number of the conferences. The three former and present Aoki Holdings executives have been arrested on bribery fees.

It’s suspected that Ueda created the “want checklist” to be handed to Takahashi on the instruction of the ex-chairman, and the latter handed the checklist to Takahashi in September 2018. The checklist included requests equivalent to “manufacturing of formally licensed fits for the Japanese delegation” and “sale of Olympic mannequin fits.” Throughout questioning by the particular investigation unit, a former worker of the Tokyo Video games organizing committee apparently mentioned they have been “proven the checklist by Takahashi.”

Round that point, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), tasked with managing issues associated to athletes, was advancing procedures for the manufacturing of formally licensed uniforms for the Japanese delegation. It’s suspected that the Tokyo Video games organizing committee queried the JOC and obtained a then unannounced coverage of deciding on the uniform producer via an open competitors, and straight relayed the coverage to Aoki Holdings. The JOC began soliciting candidates for the competitors in April 2019, to which the retailer utilized. The agency was finally appointed because the uniform producer in November 2019 after screening by an official costume choice board.

Takahashi has been arrested on suspicion of accepting a complete of 51 million yen (about $370,000) in bribes from Aoki Holdings between October 2017 and March 2022. In keeping with sources near the case, Takahashi had denied receiving the want checklist from the ex-chairman throughout questioning by the particular investigation unit previous to his arrest.

With a view to cost somebody with bribe-taking, it’s essential to show that they obtained some sort of request in reference to their duties. The particular investigation group apparently decided that it was attainable to show there was such a request as a result of the ex-chairman and others had admitted having created the want checklist.

In a associated growth, it has emerged that Takahashi allegedly discounted the sponsorship payment in levels throughout negotiations with Aoki Holdings to provide the agency a bonus, in keeping with sources aware of the state of affairs. The go well with retailer finally struck a sponsorship contract at quantities requested by the ex-chairman to the organizing committee. The particular investigation group can be probing the matter, alleging that Takahashi exerted a powerful affect within the sponsorship choice course of.

In keeping with the sources, when Takahashi apparently confirmed with the ex-chairman about Aoki Holdings’ intention to change into a sponsor in January 2017, almost two years earlier than the agency was formally named to the spot, he allegedly cited the bottom of the four-tier Video games sponsorship slots — the “official supporter” rank — and steered 1.5 billion yen (approx. $11 million) as the bottom quantity. Nonetheless, Takahashi apparently sounded out the potential for Aoki Holdings turning into a sponsor at half that payment — at 750 million yen — on the grounds that the agency was contributing funds for Tokyo’s bidding for the Video games.

After holding a number of conferences, Takahashi and the ex-chairman agreed that the agency would pay 250 million of the 750 million yen prematurely to an athletic group steered by Takahashi to cowl coaching enhancement prices by the summer season of 2017. Takahashi reported to the organizing committee that “Aoki is prepared to change into a sponsor at 500 million yen (approx. $3.7 million).” The agency later struck a 500-million-yen take care of the committee — a one-third of the sooner steered base quantity.

(Japanese authentic by Yujiro Futamura, Shintaro Iguchi, Tomonori Matsuo and Taisuke Shimabukuro, Tokyo Metropolis Information Division)