Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Group Inc., a former Olympic organizing committee executive and others faced criminal complaints Tuesday over alleged bid rigging in connection with the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Prosecutors received the complaints from the Japan Fair Trade Commission and are expected to indict six companies, including Dentsu's rival Hakuhodo Inc., and seven individuals later in the day, a source close to the matter said.
Yasuo Mori, former operations executive on the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, is among those suspected of violating the anti-monopoly law by rigging bids for contracts to plan and run Olympic test events and competitions.
Officials at the six companies are suspected of colluding with Mori to rig the bidding in 2018 for the rights, according to the source.
The prosecutors arrested Mori and three others earlier this month in connection with the suspected bid rigging.
Dentsu Group President and CEO Hiroshi Igarashi has admitted to prosecutors that the company was involved in rigging bids for the games, sources said earlier.
The alleged bid rigging is the latest corruption scandal to emerge in relation to the global sports event, following revelations of bribery.
Haruyuki Takahashi, a former executive of the organizing committee who was previously a senior managing director at Dentsu, has been indicted four times on charges of receiving bribes totaling around 198 million yen ($1.5 million) in return for helping companies to be selected as Olympic sponsors or marketing agents.
