The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun
Aoki’s HQ raided in connection with bribery
Prosecutors began raiding the main o ce of leading business attire retailer Aoki Holdings Inc. on July 28 in connection with a bribery case involving a former executive board member of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
e special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors O ce had already begun searching the home of former Aoki Holdings Chairman Hironori Aoki in connection with the case, in which former Games executive board member Haruyuki Takahashi allegedly received a large sum of money from the Aoki Holdings side. Aoki Holdings was a sponsor of the Games, and the prosecutors launched their investigation of its headquarters to probe the possible link.
Meanwhile, it was learned that Takahashi, 78, denied any wrongdoing during a voluntary hearing with the special squad by saying he “had not granted any favors as an executive board member.”
A line of ve investigators from the squad entered Aoki Holdings’ main of
ce in Tsuzuki Ward, Yokohama, at 9:55 a.m. on July 28.
According to sources, from autumn 2017 to around the end of the Games in 2021, Takahashi received ¥1 million a month in consulting fees from the Aoki
Holdings side through a Tokyo-based consulting rm where he serves as president. e amount of money that Takahashi allegedly received totaled at least ¥45 million.
In October 2018, Aoki Holdings became a corporate sponsor for the Games and sold a total of about 30,000 pieces of o cially licensed products.
e former Aoki Holdings chairman, 83, admitted to providing funds to Takahashi’s side, mentioning “high expectations on Mr. Takahashi’s personal capability.”
On July 26, the prosecutors searched Takahashi’s home and o ce on suspicion of accepting bribes, and Tokyo-based leading advertising agency Dentsu Inc., which recruited sponsors for the Games. On July 27, they searched the residence of the former Aoki Holdings chairman as well as a liquidation body of the now-defunct organizing committee in the Tokyo metropolitan government building. e liquidating body took over the committee’s remaining tasks, such as collecting debts, repaying debts and disposing of assets, a er the committee dissolved at the end of June.
Takahashi told the prosecutors, “Consulting was my main business, and I distinguished it from the project of the organizing committee.”
However, the prosecutors suspect that his consulting business hardly functioned in reality, and therefore the money provided by the Aoki Holdings side to Takahashi constituted a bribe for which the granting of favors to the retailer in the Olympic project was expected in return. (July 29)
ANOTHER ¥250 MIL. ALLEGEDLY PAID
e former Tokyo 2020 organizing committee executive board member under investigation in a bribery probe allegedly also accepted a separate payment of ¥250 million from entities related to the same sponsor, e Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, is currently being investigated for allegedly receiving at least ¥45 million from Aoki Holdings Inc., operator of a major business attire company based in Yokohama.
Executive board members of the organizing committee are regarded as quasi-civil servants, meaning they are prohibited from receiving money or goods in connection to their duties. e special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors O ce is investigating the case, looking into whether the money constituted bribery.
According to investigative sources, a consulting company Takahashi represents allegedly received ¥250 million from a rm that manages the assets of the founding family of Aoki Holdings including its former Chairman Hironori Aoki, 83. e money was provided in two transfers in 2017 and 2018 via a subsidiary of Dentsu Inc., the major
Tokyo-based advertising agency where Takahashi had served as an executive.
Some portion of the money was paid to a sports organization and Takahashi received the rest, according to the sources.
Prosecutors have questioned Takahashi about the ow of funds. He told prosecutors he signed a consulting contract with the Aoki Holdings side in September 2017, but prior to this, he had already been conducting consultations mainly for the company’s golf business. He explained that the money was given to him for the consulting services he had provided, according to the investigative sources.
He was also quoted as telling prosecutors that part of the money was used to pay o bank loans for the consulting
rm he fronted. (Aug. 1)