Prosecutors raid Dentsu over suspected bid-rigging for Olympics test events -media

Tokyo prosecutors raided the headquarters of ad agency Dentsu Inc and an events company on Friday on suspicion of rigging bids for Tokyo Olympics test events, public broadcaster NHK and other domestic media reported on Friday. Shares in its parent company Dentsu Group Inc slumped 4% on the news.

Tokyo prosecutors raided the headquarters of ad agency Dentsu Inc and an events company on Friday on suspicion of rigging bids for Tokyo Olympics test events, public broadcaster NHK and other domestic media reported on Friday.

Shares in its parent company Dentsu Group Inc slumped 4% on the news. The move marks a widening of scandal over the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that also saw Dentsu Inc offices raided earlier this year.

In that scandal, Haruyuki Takahashi, a former member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics board and before that a Dentsu Inc executive, was arrested in August on suspicion of receiving bribes from Olympic sponsors. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Japan Fair Trade Commission declined to comment on the reports of suspected bid-rigging.

"We continue to fully cooperate with this investigation," Dentsu said in a statement. The offices of events firm Cerespo Co Ltd were also raided, Japanese media reported. A representative for the company was not immediately available to respond to requests for comment. Cerespo shares tumbled 7.6%.

Prosecutors have also searched the home of a Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee executive who was suspected of having handled the project orders for the test events, Kyodo news agency reported. The report did not name the executive.

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