Ex-Kadokawa chairman found guilty of Tokyo Games bribery
Tokyo District Court on Thursday (January 22) sentenced an 82-year-old former chairman of major publisher Kadokawa Corp. to two and a half years in prison, suspended for four years, in a high-profile bribery case related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2021.
Public prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of three years for Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, who pleaded not guilty and argued that he was falsely charged.
The defence plans to appeal the sentence.
According to the ruling, the former chairman conspired with two former company officials to ask Haruyuki Takahashi, an 81-year-old former executive of the Tokyo Games organising committee, for favours in the selection of sponsors and other matters.
The two former officials have also been found guilty.
The company side allegedly paid a total of 69 million yen to Takahashi between September 2019 and January 2021.
In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Yoshihisa Nakao said that the testimonies of former company officials, including a 68-year-old former managing director, were "natural and reasonable" and "consistent with the situation at the time."
The officials said that they had reported the payments to Kadokawa and had received his approval.
Nakao dismissed Kadokawa's statement that he was unaware of Takahashi's status as a quasi-civil servant and that he did not receive reports from his former subordinates, saying that the statement "contradicted the testimonies of the former subordinates and was ambiguous, unnatural and unreasonable."
"(Kadokawa) deserves severe condemnation as he accepted criminal activity for the benefit of his company and engaged in deception to provide bribes," the judge said, adding, "The case has left a stain on the world's largest sports festival."
The judge also said that the defendant held sway over important decisions at his company, and that he allowed the payment of bribes despite being capable of stopping it.
"It cannot be said that he was at the heart of the crime, but it also cannot be said that his criminal liability is less than that of his accomplices," the judge concluded.
A total of 15 people have been indicted in a series of corruption cases linked to the Tokyo Games.
Of the 12 who allegedly offered bribes, the convictions of 11, excluding Kadokawa, have been finalised.
Of the three people who allegedly accepted bribes, a guilty sentence has been finalised for one, while the other two, including Takahashi, are still on trial.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
