Prosecutors are requesting 14 months jail for two employees of Chinese online gaming firm 500.com after the duo admitted to offering bribes in return for false testimony in an IR bribery case involving Japanese House of Representatives member Tsukasa Akimoto.
It had been alleged that 50-year-old Fumihiko Sato and 54-year-old Akitio Awaji requested a former consultant of 500.com give false testimony in the corruption case in which Akimoto has been charged, offering a cash reward of JPY20 million (US$191,000) in return.
Both defendants admitted the charges during their first day appearing at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Awaji stated, “I was told by Representative Akimoto that he had not received any bribes. I trusted him so did not doubt it. I believed [the witness] would fall for the money so I asked that Representative Akimoto hand over the money.”
The prosecution argued the act was “a malicious act of obstruction of justice. The crime of bribing witnesses was recently established in 2017, and if buying off a witness in this way had been successful, it would have made the work of discovering the truth in a trial difficult, which is highly illegal.”
Akimoto has also been charged with attempting to bribe a witness, but according to his attorneys has denied all involvement.
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