In the corruption case surrounding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the Tokyo District Court ordered a former executive officer of an advertising company who was charged with bribing a former director of the Games Organizing Committee and pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying, He was sentenced to two years in prison with a suspended sentence for ``distorting the facts.''
Defendant Yoshikazu Taniguchi (59), a former executive officer of the advertising company "Daiko", paid over 6.5 million yen to defendant Haruyuki Takahashi (79), a former director of the organizing committee, for the purpose of obtaining favors regarding sponsorship contracts for the Tokyo Games. He was charged with bribery for allegedly paying a bribe.
In a ruling on the 12th, Tokyo District Court Presiding Judge Masaru Nomura stated, ``In order to have business partners sign sponsorship contracts with the organizing committee, the former executive officer asked the former director numerous times to make arrangements, and received compensation in return. He pointed out that the bribe was not paid for the former director's duties, and rejected the former executive officer's claim that the bribe was not paid for his duties.
He then sentenced him to two years in prison and four years of suspended sentence, saying, ``The amount of bribes was not small, and he repeatedly made requests for profit. He distorted the procedures for determining sponsors and caused a loss of trust in the management of the tournament.'' .
The former executive officer appealed the judgment.
This is the first time that a defendant who maintains his innocence has been sentenced in a series of cases.