{"id":126027,"date":"2020-02-04T12:38:37","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T20:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=126027"},"modified":"2020-02-04T13:50:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T21:50:49","slug":"additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/","title":{"rendered":"Additional Indictments Filed Against Japan’s Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Bribery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos,\u00a0 was indicted again in connection with a suspected bribery scheme.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tsukasa Akimoto has denied wrongdoing in connection with a bribery inquiry in Japan. It relates to casino licensing. (Image: Nikkei Asian Review)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Akimoto, 48, was allegedly paid over $18,000 by 500.com Ltd., an online gambling business based in China. The company also allegedly paid for travel costs of about $6,900 for him to meet with officials at its Shenzhen headquarters.<\/p>\n

The third set of allegations against the House of Representatives member related to gaming chips allegedly provided at a Macau casino and gifts from 500.com, Inside Asian Gaming <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n

I am not aware of any casino chips provided to me. I planned to purchase the brand goods myself, but the company ended up paying for it. I planned to return the hospitality at some point in time, so I don\u2019t believe this is a bribe,\u201d Inside Asian Gaming <\/em>quoted Akimoto in response to the charges.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In January, Akimoto was indicted for allegedly accepting over $27,000 from 500.com in September 2017. Officials also claim he was given money by the same company to cover costs of a family vacation to Hokkaido in February 2018.<\/p>\n

Akimoto Denies Wrongdoing<\/h2>\n

Akimoto claims he never did anything wrong. He said the money mentioned in a recent indictment was reimbursement for giving speeches, and claimed he is covering the costs of the trip to China, the Japan Times<\/em> reported, citing unnamed sources.<\/p>\n

The Tokyo Public Prosecutor arrested Akimoto on Christmas Day. Last December\u2019s indictment marks the first time in a decade a lawmaker in Japan has been indicted.<\/p>\n

The Japan Times<\/em> further reported how three other suspects were indicted in the inquiry. They include Zheng Xi, 37, who used to work for 500.com, as well as Masahiko Konno, 48, and Katsunori Nakazato, 47, who were company advisers. The trio each claim they bribed Akimoto, the report adds.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Tokyo Public Prosecutor\u2019s staff also raided a gaming company office. It was not a 500.com office, news reports said.<\/p>\n

Reports claimed Akimoto appears to have visited one of Melco\u2019s<\/a> Macau integrated resorts in 2017.<\/p>\n

Japan Casino Licensing Process Proceeds<\/h2>\n

Despite the scandal, Japan\u2019s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe<\/a> says the national government will continue with its plan to license three new integrated resorts. The submission period for applicants is expected to run from January 4, 2021 to July 30, 2021.<\/p>\n

In November, Hokkaido\u2019s governor, Naomichi Suzuki, withdrew the region from consideration for a gaming venue, citing environmental concerns. Last month, Chiba Mayor Toshihito Kumagai said his city is exiting the gaming venue competition, too. Also, Kitakyushu\u2019s<\/a> mayor recently withdrew that city from the licensing process.<\/p>\n

\n

A recent survey by Kyodo News<\/em> indicates that nearly 71 percent of those polled in Japan believe their government should revisit plans to embrace integrated resorts. Just over 21 percent of those polled believe the country\u2019s plans to embrace casino gaming should proceed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But last week, Yokohama Deputy Mayor Toshihide Hirahara said an integrated resort will drive new tourism to Japan\u2019s second-largest city and bolster tax revenue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos,\u00a0 was indicted again in connection with a suspected bribery scheme. Akimoto, 48, was allegedly paid over $18,000 by 500.com Ltd., an online gambling business based in China. The company also allegedly paid for travel costs of about $6,900 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":126033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMore Indictments Filed Against Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Japan Bribery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos, was indicted again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More Indictments Filed Against Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Japan Bribery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos, was indicted again.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-04T20:38:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-04T21:50:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1152\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/\",\"name\":\"More Indictments Filed Against Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Japan Bribery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-04T20:38:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-04T21:50:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos, was indicted again.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1152},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Additional Indictments Filed Against Japan’s Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Bribery\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More Indictments Filed Against Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Japan Bribery","description":"Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos, was indicted again.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"More Indictments Filed Against Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Japan Bribery","og_description":"Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos, was indicted again.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-02-04T20:38:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-04T21:50:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1152,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/","name":"More Indictments Filed Against Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Japan Bribery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg","datePublished":"2020-02-04T20:38:37+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-04T21:50:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"Tsukasa Akimoto, a Japanese politician who played a key role in the ongoing process to legalize casinos, was indicted again.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tsukasa-Akimoto.jpg","width":2048,"height":1152},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/additional-japanese-indictments-filed-against-tsukasa-akimoto-for-alleged-bribery\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Additional Indictments Filed Against Japan’s Tsukasa Akimoto for Alleged Bribery"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}