A board member of the Tokyo Olympics was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly taking bribes, the prosecutors informed. Three other men were also arrested in relation to the scandal. The official received bribes from the official partner of last year’s pandemic-delayed 2020 Games despite knowing that he was not permitted to accept money or gifts related to his position.
The official, Haruyuki Takahashi allegedly received $380,000 from high-street business suit retailer Aoki Holdings, an official partner of last year’s pandemic-delayed 2020 Games. According to the prosecutors, Takahashi had a total of 51 million yen ($380,000 at today’s rates) transferred to the bank account of a company he runs, in more than 50 transactions between October 2017 and March 2022.
The prosecutors accuse Takahashi of accepting bribes “with the understanding they were meant as thank-you money for the beneficial and preferential treatment" he bestowed on Aoki. In addition to Takahashi, the prosecutors arrested Hironori Aoki, the founder and former chairman of Aoki Holdings, and two other people — Takahisa Aoki, 76, the founder’s younger brother and former vice chairman of the retailer, and Katsuhisa Ueda, 40, an executive of the firm — in connection with the case. Both Takahashi and Hironori Aoki have denied the bribery charges.
The arrests came after Takahashi’s Tokyo home was raided last month by investigators, according to Japanese media, with searches also conducted at the Aoki chairman’s home and the disbanded Tokyo 2020 organizing committee office.
Notably, Takahashi who once served as an executive at Japan’s biggest advertising agency, Dentsu, served on the Tokyo 2020 board from June 2014. Takahashi was deemed a quasi-civil servant who was not allowed to receive money and gifts in relation to his job when he was serving as an executive of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which were held last year following a postponement due to the coronavirus.