How far will the corruption cases surrounding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics spread in the future? It turned out that KADOKAWA, which was the sponsor of the tournament, paid 70 million yen to the company of an acquaintance of a former director who was arrested. Was there any work done by the suspect? The chairman himself responded to the interview. KADOKAWA Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa: “I’m always confused by unexpected things.” I won’t tell you.” Haruyuki Takahashi, former director of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee, is suspected of receiving a total of 51 million yen in “bribes” from AOKI. A major publishing company “KADOKAWA” has emerged in a series of investigations. As a sponsor of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, KADOKAWA publishes and sells official guidebooks and other licensed products. According to people involved, KADOKAWA has paid a total of 70 million yen as a consulting fee to a company run by an acquaintance of Takahashi since April 2019 after the sponsorship contract. Did Takahashi take advantage of it? Chairman Kadokawa has admitted to meeting the suspect. KADOKAWA President Tsuguhiko Kadokawa: “I met Mr. Takahashi at (the office of) the Organizing Committee. I met him as a director of the Organizing Committee. Mr. Takahashi was sitting in the seat.” “(Q. Did you first meet at that time?) Yes.” I met Takahashi three times in total. It seems that he made a “request” to make a sponsorship contract in that situation. KADOKAWA President Tsuguhiko Kadokawa: “I’m going to ask you about a publication-related matter. He’s a director, so it’s not natural to ask a director. He’s a director of the organizing committee, right?” “(Q. From Takahashi?) ‘Isn’t it fine?'” Regarding Takahashi’s acquaintance, he thought that he was related to the advertising giant “Dentsu”, which organizes the sponsorship business. KADOKAWA Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa: “(Q. What kind of name is the contract with the company of an acquaintance?) Consultant. I heard that it is an overall consultant.” “(Q. Sports consultant?) That’s right.” 10,000 yen to Takahashi…” I never told him.” The company’s special investigation unit is also conducting house searches. We are an advertising agency “Ohiro” based in Kansai. According to people involved, “Dentsu” was in charge of acquiring sponsors for the tournament, but there is a suspicion that Takahashi approached Dentsu to outsource part of this work to Ohiro. After that, it is believed that the money was transferred from Ohiro, who was actually the contractor, to a company run by an acquaintance of Takahashi. Ohiro commented, “We take this situation very seriously and will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities’ investigation.” How far will the incident spread in the future? We asked Mr. Masaru Wakasa, a former Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Department lawyer. Former Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Department Attorney Masaru Wakasa: “If there is a similar composition other than the three companies mentioned this time, I think there is a possibility to show further ‘horizontal spread’. I think that we have probably interviewed a considerable number of companies, so we will focus on cases where it is easy to prove that the amount is relatively high and that convenience was provided in return. I think it’s highly likely that the “horizontal spread” of the case investigation will be until December at the longest, but if some politicians are involved or the “vertical line” comes out, it will be a little longer. There is a possibility that the investigation will continue in Span.”
[テレ朝ｎｅｗｓ] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp
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