GGRAsia – Japan top court confirms Akimoto sentence in IR bribery case

Japan top court confirms Akimoto sentence in IR bribery case

Dec 18, 2024 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

The Supreme Court of Japan (pictured) confirmed on Tuesday the prison sentence for former lawmaker Tsukasa Akimoto, who had previously been found guilty of receiving bribes over a now-defunct proposed casino scheme in Hokkaido prefecture in the north of the country.

In 2021, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Mr Akimoto, at the time a member of the lower house in Japan’s parliament, to four years in prison, without suspension, and a fine of nearly JPY7.6 million (US$49,544 currently). The sentence was later confirmed by the Tokyo High Court.

According to media reports, the country’s top court, in a decision dated December 17, rejected Mr Akimoto’s appeal. He is a former member of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party.

In the first trial related with the case, Mr Akimoto was found guilty of receiving bribes worth about JPY7.6 million, from Masahiko Konno and Katsunori Nakazato, described as advisors for Chinese firm 500.com Ltd. The latter was one of a number of companies interested in bidding for a licence for an integrated resort (IR) with casino in Hokkaido.

In October 2020, the Tokyo District Court found Mr Konno and Mr Nakazato guilty of bribing Mr Akimoto, and sentenced them to suspended prison sentences.

Last month, the U.S. authorities announced that BIT Mining Ltd – formerly known as 500.com Ltd – had agreed to pay a US$10-million criminal penalty for involvement in a “corrupt scheme to pay bribes to Japanese government officials” in its effort to open a casino in Japan.

The firm had been assessed for a US$54-million penalty for the bribery scheme – dating to between 2017 and 2019 – in contravention of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The governor of Hokkaido decided in November 2019 – prior to news breaking regarding the bribery allegations – not to propose the prefecture to Japan’s national government as a candidate site in an initial phase of casino liberalisation in the country.