Photo/Illutration Hironori Aoki, left, former chairman of Aoki Holdings Inc., and other former executives admit their guilt in the Tokyo District Court on Dec. 22. (Illustration by Kageyoshi Koyanagi)

Three former top executives of a major Japanese clothing manufacturer embroiled in an Olympic bribery scandal have moved to put the matter behind them as quickly as possible.

Hironori Aoki, 84, the founder and former chairman of Aoki Holdings Inc., Takahisa Aoki, 76, former vice chairman of the firm, and Katsuhisa Ueda, 41, a former senior managing director of the company, all admitted in court on Dec. 22 to the charges against them.

They are believed to have paid bribes to ensure Aoki Holdings would be named an official sponsor of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Sources said the company wants to move toward resuscitation and is seeking an early end to the trial.

The Aokis and Ueda told the court they saw the Olympics as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so they acted as they did because they did not want their company left behind.

“I held the very earnest thought that holding the Olympics would give Japan more energy,” Hironori Aoki said in court. “I deeply apologize for having caused this situation which arose as an extension of that feeling.”

The opening session of their trial was the first related to the indictment of Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, a former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee executive, on bribery charges over sponsorship deals.

Takahashi will be tried separately. Former executives from four other companies also await trial.

Hironori Aoki explained that he knew Takahashi for about 15 years and paid him 1 million yen ($7,500) a month as a consulting fee to grease the wheels to help Aoki Holdings be selected as an Olympic sponsor.

The consulting contract was signed in September 2017 and by 2022, Aoki had paid a total of 51 million yen to Takahashi.

The company was chosen as an Olympic sponsor in October 2018 and subsequently received contracts to manufacture official Olympic ceremonial uniforms and licensed products.

In their opening statement, prosecutors described how Yoshiro Mori, the former prime minister who chaired the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, gave Takahashi the authority to decide on sponsors.

During his testimony, Ueda said he felt a sense of guilt about asking Takahashi to act on behalf of the company, but added, “I did not want to lose the business opportunity from the event of the century.”

Ueda also said he could not advise Hironori Aoki to stop the request to Takahashi.

In response to questioning by prosecutors, Hironori Aoki admitted to giving orders to subordinates to destroy the consulting contract with Takahashi and other documents linking the company to Takahashi after media reports surfaced about the bribery scandal.

The only testimony to be presented by the defense is scheduled to be from family members who will ask the court for leniency in sentencing.

The next court session will likely be the last one before the Tokyo District Court makes a ruling.

(This article was written by Kazufumi Kaneko, Kae Kawashima and Hikaru Yokoyama.)

Related News