Ex-chair Of Tokyo Olympics Sponsor Handed Suspended Jail Sentence

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Apr, 2023 ) :The former chairman of a Tokyo 2020 Olympics sponsor was handed a suspended prison sentence Friday along with two others, in the first convictions in a spiralling bribery scandal surrounding the Games.

Corruption allegations have mushroomed in the aftermath of the pandemic-delayed Games, implicating major companies and damaging Japan's bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.

A Tokyo District Court spokesman confirmed to AFP that 84-year-old Hironori Aoki, the ex-head of high-street business suit retailer Aoki Holdings, had been given a suspended two-and-a-half-year prison term.

The judge said that his "criminal liability is significant".

Aoki pleaded guilty in December to accusations that he and two colleagues paid a Tokyo 2020 board member for preferential treatment, according to Japanese media.