TOKYO, Sept 3 — Japanese publisher Kadokawa Corp, a sponsor for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, gave ¥70 million to a company linked to a central figure arrested in a growing bribery scandal around the Games,Tokyo prosecutors are looking into the purpose of the payment and the flow of money from Kadokawa to a firm run by a friend of Haruyuki Takahashi, a former member of the Tokyo 2020 board,Takahashi, 78, is one of several people arrested on suspicion of bribery surrounding the Games, which were...
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chairman of the publishing company, told reporters last month he was not aware his company was being investigated but that he was looking into the circumstances,The reported payment comes weeks after the arrest of Hironori Aoki, former chairman of fashion company Aoki Holdings, on suspicion of bribery.
Kadokawa made the payment, labelled consultant fees, after it was named an Olympic sponsor in April 2019,reported in 2020 that Takahashi, who was paid millions of dollars to work on Tokyo’s successful bid for the Olympics, said he played a key role in securing the support of a former Olympics powerbroker who was later suspected by French prosecutors of taking bribes to help Japan’s bid.
He said there was nothing improper with the payments he received or with the way he used the money. — Reuters