Arrested Tokyo Games Official Suspected Of Requiring Bribes Linked To Sales
NHK has learned that an arrested former executive of the Tokyo Games organizing committee may have instructed an official merchandise seller to pay him a proportion of the sales proceeds.
Takahashi Haruyuki was served a fourth arrest warrant on Wednesday in alleged bribery cases over sponsorship deals for the Olympics and Paralympics.
The latest arrest involves an allegation that Takahashi accepted seven million yen, or about 46,700 dollars, in bribes from Sun Arrow, a company that sold stuffed toys of the Games' mascots.
He is suspected of taking the bribe in exchange for helping the company win a licensing contract for selling official merchandise.
The alleged bribe is believed to have been channeled through a consulting firm led by Takahashi's acquaintance.
Sources told NHK that Takahashi had instructed a senior official of Sun Arrow to remit a certain percentage of the sales proceeds from the official merchandise to an account held by the consulting firm.
Internal documents of the Games' organizing committee, obtained by NHK, show that Sun Arrow's stuffed mascots were the fourth best-selling product among the roughly 8,000 licensed goods.
Wednesday's arrest warrant was also for an alleged bribery case involving major advertising agency ADK.
Takahashi's previous arrests were over suspected bribes from apparel maker Aoki Holdings, publishing house Kadokawa and advertising agency Daiko. He reportedly denies taking bribes in all the cases.