(Update) 300-M.-Yen Fine Upheld for Dentsu Group over Bid-Rigging

   Tokyo, July 31 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo High Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling ordering advertising giant Dentsu Group Inc. to pay a fine of 300 million yen over bid-rigging related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2021.
   The high court also maintained Tokyo District Court's ruling that sentenced Koji Henmi, 57, former assistant head of the sports department of Dentsu Inc., the group's core subsidiary, to two years in prison, suspended for four years.
   The company and Henmi appealed the high court decision the same day.
   According to the lower and high court rulings, Henmi conspired with a 58-year-old former senior official of the Tokyo Games organizing committee and others between February and July 2018 to preselect the winners of contracts for planning Tokyo Games test events and managing venues for actual competitions.
   In the appeal trial, the defense argued that Dentsu Group and Henmi were not involved in any such conspiracy.

(2025/07/31-16:53)