Olympic sponsor fee for Japan retailer in bribery scandal was more than halved -Kyodo (updated)
18/08/2022 02:55
(Adds details, background)
TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The Tokyo 2020 Olympic sponsor fee
for Japanese suit retailer Aoki Holdings 8214.T was less than
half of the standard fee, news agency Kyodo reported on Thursday
citing unnamed sources.
To become a sponsor for the Tokyo 2020 Games, Aoki Holdings
paid 500 million yen - less than half what other sponsors paid,
according to the report.
Tokyo prosecutors arrested on Wednesday former chairman of
Aoki Holdings Hironori Aoki, former member of the Tokyo 2020
Olympics board Haruyuki Takahashi and two other executives on
suspicion of bribery. Reuters was not able to contact Aoki to
ask for comment. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZT09E
Aoki Holdings said in a statement on Thursday that it was
fully cooperating with prosecutors but could not comment further
as the investigation was ongoing.
Prosecutors said in a Wednesday statement that a total of 51
million yen had been sent from a bank account of Hironori Aoki's
asset management firm to the bank account of a company run by
Takahashi.
Reuters 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.
Takahashi told Reuters at that time his work included
lobbying International Olympic Committee member Lamine Diack who
he gave gifts, including digital cameras and a Seiko watch.
Takahashi said then that there was nothing improper with the
payments he received or with the way he used the money.
Diack died at the age of 88 last year.
(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Editing by Michael Perry)
((Sakura.Murakami@thomsonreuters.com;))