The chairman of publishing company Kadokawa has been indicted by prosecutors for bribing a former Tokyo Olympics organizing committee executive, Kyodo News reported.

The 79-year old Tsuguhiko Kadokawa was arrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office in September on suspicion of bribing the then-executive, Haruyuki Takahashi, with 70 million yen (~US$487 thousand) in order to allow the publisher to become a sponsor for the Tokyo Games. Takahashi has been indicted for accepting a bribe from fashion company Aoki Holdings Inc. and was rearrested on September 27 on suspicion of accepting a bribe from advertising firm Daiko.

According to Kyodo News, prosecutors also indicted Kadokawa adviser Toshiyuki Yoshihara and employee Kyoji Maniwa, the latter being the person in charge of business related to the Tokyo Games, for collusion of bribery with the chairman. Aside from being selected as sponsor, it is alleged that the Kadokawa side asked for a sponsorship fee cap of 380 million yen (~US$2.6 million) and to quickly conclude a sponsorship contract.

Kyodo News also reported that Kadokawa, via a statement released through his lawyers, revealed his intention to step down while continuing to claim that he was innocent.

In response to Kadokawa being indicted, the publisher simply issued a brief statement saying, “We take this matter very seriously, and deeply apologize to all those concerned including our readers, customers, authors, creators, business partners, shareholders, and investors for the considerable inconvenience this matter has caused.”

The publisher was founded in 1945 by Kadokawa’s father Genyoshi. The company has since expanded beyond publishing to involve itself with video and games.

Source: Kyodo News