Japan Casino News: Supreme Court Upholds Sentence for Ex-Lawmaker Who Took IR Bribes

Posted on: December 19, 2024, 02:19h. 

Last updated on: December 19, 2024, 02:45h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

In casino news out of Japan, the country’s Supreme Court has upheld a four-year prison sentence for a former lawmaker who was convicted of accepting bribes connected to the issuing of integrated resort (IR) licenses. In related news, Japan’s National Diet has approved the nominees for the country’s next casino commission.

Japan casino news gambling
Tsukasa Akimoto testifies in his defense of bribery charges in 2019. Akimoto’s four-year prison sentence was upheld this week by the Japan Supreme Court. Akimoto was found to have accepted bribes from a company that at the time was seeking to build a casino resort in Japan. (Image: Asahi Shimbun)

News agencies in Japan report that the Japanese Supreme Court this week rejected a plea from Tsukasa Akimoto, a former politician in the central government’s House of Representatives, to have his prison sentence reduced. In 2019, the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office successfully prosecuted the then-Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician for illegally accepting gifts totaling $34K from a Chinese online gaming firm.

Akimoto was convicted of accepting cash, airfare, and hotel stays in 2017 and 2018 from 500.com, which facilitates online lottery and sports gambling games in China. The organization is one of two companies licensed by China’s Ministry of Finance to provide such online gaming services on the mainland.

Last month, 500.com was indicted by the US federal government on allegations that the company, which has since changed its identity to Bit Mining Ltd., engaged in the bribing of foreign officials in Japan. The US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey says 500.com “directed consultants to pay bribes to Japanese government officials to win a bid to open a large resort in Japan.”   

Unsuccessful Scheme

500.com was part of a consortium seeking to secure an IR license in Japan for a casino development in either Hokkaido or Okinawa.

Japan’s slow dragging of its crafting of gaming regulations and conducting a competitive bidding process resulted in most bids, including 500.com’s, being withdrawn. While Japan’s 2018 IR bill authorized up to three casinos, only one license has been awarded more than six years later.

MGM Resorts International and Japanese financial services conglomerate Orix Corporation are partnered on a more than $8 billion project in Osaka on Yumeshima Island. MGM Osaka is pacing to open in late 2030.

The Japanese Supreme Court upheld the Tokyo High Court’s 2021 decision to sentence Akimoto to four years in prison and pay a fine of JPY7.6 million (US$48,284).

Commission Formed 

In other Japanese casino news, the National Diet on Tuesday approved the next installation of the Japan Casino Regulatory Commission. The five-member panel is an external bureau of the Cabinet and has the mission of maintaining order and ensuring safety regarding the establishment and operation of casino facilities.

Japan’s legislature approved Takafumi Sato, a prosecutor in Takamatsu, as the next chair of the regulatory agency. He will succeed Michio Kitamura effective Jan. 7, 2025.

Junichi Kakimizu, a former head of the National Tax College under the National Tax Agency, will also join the Casino Regulatory Commission next month, replacing Hiroyuki Ujikane, whose five-year term commenced in January 2020.

Commissioners Hirofumi Kitamura and Keiko Ishikawa will remain, as their terms are only half-finished. Commissioner Watari Michiko is set for reappointment and a second five-year term on the Casino Regulatory Commission.