Tsukasa Akimoto has been sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of attempting to bribe two people connected to the Chinese gaming company 500.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Japan.- The politician Tsukasa Akimoto<\/strong>\u00a0has been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for taking bribes in relation to now-abandoned plans for a casino project in Hokkaido Prefecture in the north of Japan.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Tokyo District Court has sentenced Akimoto to\u00a0four years\u2019 imprisonment without probation<\/strong>\u00a0and imposed a fine of JPY7.5m (US$68,300). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Prosecutors had demanded a\u00a0five-year prison term<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0a JPY7.6m (US$69,000) fine<\/strong>, noting that Akimoto started to take bribes shortly after taking office as the state minister in charge of affairs related to integrated resorts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Akimoto was accused of having accepted an\u00a0all-expenses-paid trip<\/a>\u00a0for him and his family to Rusutsu Villa, Hokkaido, from Chinese gaming company 500.com<\/strong> when he has a member of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nagasaki Prefectural Government and Casinos Austria International Japan Inc<\/strong>\u00a0have signed a master agreement for the area’s IR bid<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agreement names the project the \u201cKyushu-Nagasaki IR\u201d<\/strong>, referring to the Kyushu region, of which Nagasaki form a part. The Nagasaki Prefectural Government also revealed the planned total investment for the IR development is JPY350bn (US$3.2bn).<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hodo Nakamura, Nagasaki\u2019s governor, said: \u201cThe operator\u2019s business proposal is backed by a business track record in Europe and other international markets and aims to realise a traditional and luxurious integrated resort <\/strong>of the world\u2019s highest standard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added: \u201cThe Kyushu-Nagasaki IR will vitalise the local economy and tourism industry affected by Covid-19, and also contribute to the development of the Kyushu region and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nNagasaki and Casinos Austria sign master agreement for IR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n