An anti-monopoly law violation charge has been brought against Japan’s largest advertising agency and five other companies for their alleged involvement in bid-rigging during the Tokyo Olympics corruption scandal. This indictment comes after the recent arrest of a senior Tokyo 2020 organizing committee official and three others who were accused of rigging multiple tenders related to the Olympic Games.
Local media reports suggest that Hiroshi Igarashi, the president of Dentsu Group, has admitted to Tokyo prosecutors that his company is responsible. Along with Dentsu, several other companies including leading advertising firms Hakuhodo and Tokyo Agency, and events operators Same Two, Cerespo, and Fuji Creative Corp, have been charged by the prosecutors.
The indictment has named seven executives and officials, without specifying which company they belonged to. As per the statement issued by the prosecutors, the companies and their executives allegedly colluded to limit each other’s business activities when it came to awarding contracts for Olympic test events. Such actions were not in the public interest and resulted in constraining competition.
Dentsu Group expressed its deep concern about the situation and issued an apology for the inconvenience caused by the scandal. The company further stated that it has formed an external panel of experts to look into the matter and has asked five of its current and former officials to return their salaries.
Earlier this month, Yasuo Mori, a former 2020 Games official, and three other businessmen were arrested by Tokyo prosecutors on charges of violating the anti-monopoly law. The four are accused of rigging multiple competitive bids and restricted tender contracts for Olympic events, which were estimated to be worth a total of 40 billion yen (£248 million).
In addition, prosecutors are looking into allegations that a former board member of Tokyo 2020 received payments from companies in exchange for Olympic partnership agreements. Haruyuki Takahashi was taken into custody for allegedly accepting bribes amounting to almost 200 million yen. The firms implicated in the bribery scandal include a clothing retailer, a publishing company, and a merchandise firm authorized to sell stuffed toys of the Games’ mascots.
The ex-president of ADK Holdings, which is Japan’s third-largest advertising agency, has pleaded guilty to providing at least 14 million yen to Takahashi. Additionally, in December, an ex-executive of a leading clothing company, Aoki Holdings, reportedly confessed in court that he offered money to secure sponsorship rights. This information was reported by the national broadcaster, NHK.
The ongoing cases have raised concerns over Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Games, leading the northern city to suspend its campaign and conduct a nationwide survey to gauge public support. As reports of the latest indictments surfaced, government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno expressed his disappointment, stating that it would be unfortunate if any unethical practices were associated with the bidding process for the Tokyo Games.
Concerns regarding irregularities surrounding the Tokyo Games had been raised even before the event was disrupted by Covid and held in the summer of 2021. In 2019, Tsunekazu Takeda, the former chief of Japan’s Olympic Committee, resigned from his post after French prosecutors initiated an inquiry into allegations of corruption related to Tokyo’s bid for the Olympics.
