Japan’s casino effort damaged by bribery scandal

Japanese prosecutors have arrested a ruling-party lawmaker previously in charge of casino policy on suspicion he accepted bribes from a Chinese company seeking to build a casino.

Liberal Democratic Party politician Tsukasa Akimoto arrest is yet another blow to already unpopular plans to open the country to the gaming industry. He was arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from 500.com, a Shenzhen, China-based provider of sports lottery products that hat planned to open an integrated casino resort in Hokkaido.

Akimoto became the first sitting lawmaker to be arrested in about a decade, according to Japan’s leading news agency. Kyodo. “I was not involved in any wrongdoing,” Akimoto said on his Twitter feed before the arrest.

According to prosecutors, Akimoto was approached in July 2017 just after the company had set an office in Japan. He is suspected of taking 3 million yen cash ($27,500) and a family holiday valued at $6,500 from three suspects, who were also arrested.

Also, in December 2017, Mr. Akimoto made a three-day visit to China, the costs for which were covered by 500.com. There he visited the company’s corporate headquarters as well as a casino in Macau. According to sources, during the visit, 500.com executives conveyed their plans to expand in Japan and told Mr. Akimoto that the company could bring its huge base of gambling customers around China to Japan if it receives a casino licence.

The company is also suspected of smuggling several million yen in cash into Japan without declaring it to customs.

Japan legalized casino gambling in 2016. The law allows for the establishment of three, Las Vegas-style casino resorts, and Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo are among the local governments seeking to attract a casino or considering doing so, according to the country’s tourism authority. Opinion polls show that the public opposes the idea.