An executive at Chinese online sports lottery operator 500.com had reportedly told the company’s head office in Shenzhen, China that he would need funds to bribe a Japanese lawmaker in exchange for preferential treatment during the selection process for the development of Japan’s first three casino resorts.
Tsukasa Akimoto, a member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party who sits in the Lower House of the country’s government, was arrested last week on suspicion that he had received JPY3.7 million from 500.com to spearhead the Chinese company’s bid to build an integrated resort with a casino in the Hokkaido prefecture.
According to sources, 500.com had documentation of the alleged bribe that Mr. Akimoto received. In late 2017, the lawmaker was placed in charge of the Japanese government’s effort to bring casino resorts. Mr. Akimoto reportedly received money from 500.com and was treated to a trip to the company’s corporate headquarters in China as well as to Hokkaido. During his visit to China, he also went to a Macau casino to inspect the city’s gambling industry.
Japan legalized casino gambling in December 2016. Last summer, lawmakers passed a separate legislation that aimed to pave the way for the establishment of the country’s first integrated resorts with designated casino facilities.
Japan’s central government now needs to lay out additional plans on how exactly the nation’s casino industry would be governed and to select the preferred hosts of up to three integrated resorts.
The Bribery Scheme
As mentioned earlier, Mr. Akimoto is believed to have received JPY3.7 million from 500.com and was allegedly expected to help the company win one of the three gaming licenses that will be up for grabs.
In September 2017, the lawmaker allegedly received JPY3 million in cash to finance his campaign ahead of the snap election that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called at the time.
The remaining JPY700,000 allegedly came in the form of travel expenses for a trip to Hokkaido that Mr. Akimoto and his family were treated to in February 2018. The trip was reportedly made at the invitation of the Chinese online sports lottery operator.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office has said they suspect the lawmaker received the money from three individuals employed at 500.com. All three were, too, recently arrested.
Mr. Akimoto told prosecutors he knew the three people, but denied receiving a bribe from them. He also claimed he did not remember a September 2017 meeting with the three 500.com employees, during which he allegedly received the above-mentioned JPY3 million.
The legislator also said that he covered the expenses for the trip to Hokkaido and asked his secretary to sort out the payment.
The three 500.com employees under arrest reportedly provided investigators with information about the September 2017 meeting with the Japanese minister and why their company invited him and his family to Hokkaido.
Ruling party lawmakers said earlier this month that the bribery scandal was not likely to affect their timeline for the procedures related to bringing casinos to Japan. However, said scandal has been gaining more and more momentum with each passing day that it now seems the country’s casino legalization push could eventually suffer delays or see anti-gambling campaigners take advantage of the situation in a bid to press the government to abandon the plan.
Source: Chinese exec in Japan casino scandal asked his head office for bribe money, sources say, The Japan Times
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