Ruling party lawmaker arrested over alleged bribe from Chinese gambling operator

Scummy industry meets scummy profession. Bribery and corruption ensues. Anyone surprised?

Akimoto also said in a Twitter post in the morning, "I have never been involved in wrongdoing at all. I will continue to assert that." He resigned from the LDP following his arrest.

We’ll decide that. Just answer the question, did you receive 3 million yen from the Chinese party?

These guys always think they’ve done nothing wrong, saying yes I received money but it was for “consulting fees.”

LOL! He looks sleazy! Based on appearance, I am not surprised!

With so much corruption in the preliminary stages of setting up casinos in Japan one can only imagine how bad it will be once they finally get them open.

These dirty corrupted, greedy politicians are everywhere and Japan is not the exception. Knowing the troubles with China and business dealings I'm glad he got caught, because if he was this sleazy to do something like this what other under the table dealings has he done for his own coffers.

I suppose this is partly because it's foreign money.

Of course the Japanese construction companies, car companies, electrical companies TEPCO, JR etc. etc. have never made payments to Japanese politicians in order to 'maintain good relations', or gain an advantage in bidding processes.

I wonder who is the tipper.

Probably the person who WASN'T offered money!

LOL - he should be stripped of that Sustainable Development Goals badge he's wearing for a start.

Not sure where gambling and bribes fit into supporting the SDG's

Akimoto: I didnt do anything

Prosecutors release evidence

Akimoto: I'm sorry for being caught

yadayada, always the same.

Bad people throng around the bad businesses.

As dirty as they come and another LDP member affiliated with Nippon Kaigi.

I wonder why they threw him under the bus?

The arrest of Akimoto is the latest in a series of money and gift-giving scandals linked to the Abe administration, which forced two Cabinet ministers to resign earlier this year.

Keep going! Plenty more where he came from!

They say that if you find one gokiburi, there are 30 more lying hidden.

These guys always think they’ve done nothing wrong, saying yes I received money but it was for “consulting fees.”

Using “Consulting fees” is a great way to launder money.

3m? Very cheaply bought.

The only reason he is in trouble is because this is a Chinese company, and he probably had bad relations with someone in power. The fact is corruption is very common when dealing with the government. This guy got in trouble for an amount so tiny relative to many other cases.

In one of my previous experiences, I've seen a Japanese government official pressure a company into buying certain stocks on certain dates, etc. to the amounts of hundreds of million yens. Of course there's also the tacit agreements of board/executive positions, etc. which is all too common.

I wonder who is the tipper. It appears the police has been investigating the case time before.

only 3.7? pocket change...

3.7 million? Wow you can buy the LDP REALLY cheaply.

When you think how deep these Chinese casino wiseguys' pockets are, 2020 might be a good year to get into the brown envelope business.

Had you ever heard the word 'IR' before? This word has appeared in Okinawa's media quite often in recent years, leading people to believe it could invigorate the stagnant economy. So some municipality heads grabbed at the idea of introducing IR to their municipalities without giving too much thought to it.

IR stands for integrated resorts, meaning integration of gambling (casinos) with resort hotels.

Last year Okinawa received about one million tourists, but did these visitors come here for gambling like in Las Vegas? Or will the lifting of ban on casinos attract more tourists as municipal fathers hope?

The symposium held in Naha in 2017 spread the dream about IR all the more. So it's very interesting that bribed lawmakers like Akimoto were deeply involved in enacting laws to lift ban on casinos. .

Casino related corruption. So now it begins.....

The little fish get caught but the Big Rats still free.

Japanese Casino seems to be started with the corruption and young women end up with prostitution and young men becoming thieves, they will be used as drug mules by Yakaza.

Good luck Japan!

Not smart. 3.7 million yen is not much money for losing your entire career and getting arrested.

Power to the prosecution.

The enactment of law lifting ban on casinos can't be done by one person only. So there must be more bribed lawmakers other than Akimoto that were deeply involved in it.

As BertieWooster nicely says, "if you find one gokiburi, there are 30 more lying hidden".

Correction of a figure in my post above:

 Last year Okinawa received about ten  million tourists, but did these visitors come here for gambling like in Las Vegas? Or will the lifting of ban on casinos attract more tourists as municipal fathers hope?

Wow, before even any casino opens ???.

Another one bits the dust...next in line, please?!

You wonder if he really looks so crooked normally, or the media found a picture where he looks that way. Anyone if they are caught in a certain moment has a pose where they can look any of a dozen different ways. I'm a bit skeptical.

Maybe, just maybe some in Japan are starting to try to clean up their act?

Question is : is there any evidence ?

Because so far in the article, only allegations.

Either there is a video or a testimony, or there is nothing.

We know they' re bribed. But 3 millions or so amount to meaningless impact if you really wanted to bribe someone at that level.