Photo/Illutration The main office of Dentsu Inc. in Tokyo’s Minato Ward. The picture was taken in November. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee specified in documents that successful test-event bidders would be awarded contracts to operate the Summer Games, according to sources close to Tokyo prosecutors.

The latest revelation significantly broadens the scope of suspected collusion between the committee, advertising giant Dentsu Inc. and other businesses over the Tokyo Olympics and its related events.

The revelation comes as a special investigation squad with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Fair Trade Commission probes allegations of bid-rigging over Games events.

They searched the home of a former official with the committee and Dentsu’s main office in November.

In 2018, nine companies, including Dentsu, as well as a consortium of businesses, received contracts worth 540 million yen ($4.15 million) to plan test events following 26 competitive bids.

Test events are competitions held ahead of the Games to test playing conditions and check for potential issues related to the venue.

All the companies that won the contracts were also awarded the right to organize and operate the test events and the corresponding competitions in the Games in free contracts totaling about 40 billion yen.

Prosecutors are considering building a criminal case against officials with the committee and Dentsu over the bid-rigging in connection with the test events and the Games events on suspicion of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law by committing unfair restraint of trade, according to the sources.

Prosecutors believe the contracts for both came secretly packaged as a set.

When the committee briefed businesses on the tenders for planning the test events, multiple documents used at the session in question stated that successful winners would also land contracts for the Summer Olympics so long as no problems emerged with their administration of the test events, according to the sources.

As for tasks related to operating test events and Tokyo Olympics events, the organizing committee awarded the projects to businesses after negotiation, rather than holding open tenders.

Under procedures set by the committee, it was supposed to conduct a review when selecting companies for projects related to the Games--a step designed to prevent automatic awarding.

But prosecutors, based on the documents used during briefings, have come to suspect that the reviews were done in name only and that there was an understanding between companies and the organizing committee that bidders that landed contracts for planning test events would also be awarded contracts to operate test events and Games events.

Officials with companies who won the contracts told The Asahi Shimbun there was no such promise.

“We went through separate procedures for test events and the Summer Games,” one of the officials said.

Dentsu officials have admitted to collusion over bid-rigging for contracts related to test events during questioning by investigators conducted on a voluntary basis.

A committee official had asked Dentsu to round up prospective winning bidders for planning test events in 2017 before the tenders were held the following year.

The committee and Dentsu officials compiled a list of prospective bidders for the competitive tenders.

Most of the tenders saw only one company submit a bid, almost identical to the list.

The organizing committee official still denies the arrangement amounted to bid-rigging, according to the sources.

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