{"id":10827,"date":"2020-10-12T22:04:40","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T22:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=10827"},"modified":"2026-04-24T01:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T04:03:12","slug":"gambling-execs-sentenced-in-bribery-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/gambling-execs-sentenced-in-bribery-case","title":{"rendered":"Gambling execs sentenced in bribery case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two former 500.com advisors have received suspended jail sentences in a case related to Japan&#8217;s IR scheme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Japan.-\u00a0Two former advisors of the Chinese lottery platform 500.com have been handed suspended jail sentences for trying to bribe a Japanese lawmaker in exchange for information on the country&#8217;s licence scheme for integrated resorts (IRs).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Tokyo District Court sentenced Masahiko Konno to two years in prison and Katsunori Nakazato to one year and 10 months. Both sentences are suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">500.com had already anticipated its interest in participating in one of the bids for an IR in Japan when, through these executives and other promotors, it invited Tsukasa Akimoto, a former member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party with his family on an all-expenses-paid ski trip to\u00a0Hokkaido.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Akimoto was also recently <strong><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/akimotos-bail-revoked-over-allegations-of-bribery\" target=\"_blank\">arrested for trying to bribe<\/a><\/em><\/strong> Konno and Nakazato to give false testimony in the trial against him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Konno and Nakazato were charged for paying 7.6 million yen (US$72,000) in bribes between 2017 and 2018 in relation to the IR scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They requested\u00a0leniency from the court on the grounds that 500.com\u00a0has withdrawn from participating in Japan\u2019s IR business, and because the bribery was not directly linked to the bid itself. However, the judge considered that they acted against their duties and public trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two former 500.com advisors have received suspended jail sentences in a case related to Japan&#8217;s IR scheme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Former advisors to Chinese lottery platform 500.com, Masahiko Konno and Katsunori Nakazato, have received suspended jail sentences from the Tokyo District Court for bribing a Japanese lawmaker for information on the nation's Integrated Resort (IR) licensing scheme. This case highlights significant regulatory compliance and governance challenges within the nascent Japanese iGaming and hospitality market, particularly concerning B2B lobbying efforts for IR development.","focusai_entities":"500.com, Masahiko Konno, Katsunori Nakazato, Tsukasa Akimoto","focusai_location":"Japan, Tokyo, Hokkaido","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.85), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Japan IR Integrity","query":"What specific enhancements to Japan's IR licensing and oversight mechanisms are anticipated following this high-profile bribery conviction, and how might this affect the remaining bid processes?"},{"label":"B2B Compliance Risk","query":"How does this case redefine the due diligence expectations for B2B entities engaging in lobbying or advisory roles within nascent regulated markets, particularly concerning third-party agent oversight?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,439],"tags":[22405,23632,470],"class_list":["post-10827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legal-news","tag-bribery","tag-integrated-resorts","tag-japan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10827"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10850,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10827\/revisions\/10850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}