A Japanese lawmaker, who is facing bribery charges in a recent casino scandal, has rejected the allegations that he offered money to witnesses in his case to testify in his favor. Reportedly, the lawyer of the House of Representatives member Tsukasa Akimoto, told investigators that his client had not asked anyone to give false testimony in court in connection with the casino case, nor had he been involved in such actions.
On August 24th, Akihito Awaji, who has been supporting Mr. Akimoto, along with two other men – Kazuhiro Miyatake and Fumihiko Sato – were accused of alleged witness tampering associated with the aforementioned casino scandal.
As CasinoGamesPro recently reported, Mr. Akimoto was once again taken into custody on August 20th for allegedly tampering with witnesses in his lawsuit while being on bail. Previously, he was accused of receiving bribes worth ¥7.6 million from a Chinese gambling company that has been interested in expanding its presence in Japan through the establishment of an integrated casino resort.
Allegedly, Mr. Akimoto received bribes in 2017 and 2018 at the time when he was in charge of the country’s effort to legalize casino gambling.
Mr. Akimoto Offered Bribes to Witnesses to Make Them Testify in His Favor, Prosecutors Say
According to investigators, the Japanese lawmaker was heavily involved in the witness tampering case. As CasinoGamesPro already reported, they have also got an arrest warrant for the boss of a consulting company, who has helped Mr. Akimoto get in touch with the witnesses.
The indictment says that Mr. Awaji and Mr. Sato are suspected of offering ¥30 million to an ex-adviser of the Chinese gambling operator 500.com Ltd, Masahiko Konno, to testify in Mr. Akimoto’s favor in Mr. Akimoto’s case. According to allegations, the consultant and Mr. Miyatake offered the same to Katsunori Nakazato, who was also a former adviser to the gambling company.
As revealed by an unnamed individual with knowledge of the situation, the 54-year-old Tokyo-based company executive Mr. Awaji shared with prosecutors that the men were acting on behalf of Mr. Akimoto. Both Akimoto and Miyatake have requested the Tokyo District Court to release them on bail.
Before Tsukasa Akimoto’s initial arrest that took place in December 2019, Mr. Akimoto left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of the now-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe but resumed working as a Japanese lawmaker after being released on bail in February 2020.
A couple of years ago, he oversaw an initiative aimed at the legalization of casino gambling in the country as part of so-called integrated casino resorts that are also set to feature hotels, conference and entertainment facilities. At the end of 2019, Mr. Akimoto faced allegations of taking bribes by a Chinese gambling company while being a senior vice minister in the Cabinet Office. The scandal has now expanded even more, with the newest allegations of witness tampering during the casino bribery lawsuit.
