Nagasaki District Court opens hearing against IR spending

The governor of Nagasaki has been accused of misusing public money in the bid to host an integrated resort.

Japan.- Nagasaki District Court has opened hearings in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the governor of Nagasaki from spending more public money on integrated resort (IR) plans. In September, the Stop the Casino Nagasaki Prefectural Network claimed funds had been used improperly because the IR application was unlikely to be approved by Japan’s national government.

Plaintiffs also argued that letters sent by the prefecture to the central government did not meet requirements. They also challenged a contract for circa JPY110m (US$761,500) with a law firm and other advisors and claimed the prefecture “never engaged in a proper confirmation” of its IR plans.

A representative for the prefectural government indicated that the payment was proper because certain works related to the assessment of the proposal had to be carried out. The next court session is scheduled for December.

Nagasaki is one of the two cities that have submitted bids to develop IRs in Japan. Authorities chose Casinos Austria International Japan Inc as partner for their bid and expect the IR to open in 2027. The planned cost for the development of the IR is JPY438.3bn (US$3.8bn), including JPY175.3bn in equity costs.