Japanese prosecutors on Oct. 1 opened court against Tamio Kakinuma, 65 - the former president of Japan Transportation Consultants (JTC) Inc., Tatsuro Wada, 67 – former transport consultant, and Koji Ikeda, 58, who were charged with providing tens of millions of Yen to officials to win contracts funded by Japanese official development assistance (ODA), according to Japan's Kyodo News.
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| JTC former president Tamio Kakinuma |
Kyodo News reported the three defendants had paid around 70 million Yen in kickbacks to three senior officials in Vietnam’s railway sector from 2009 to 2014. They also handed 20 million Yen to five officials of Indonesia’s Transport Ministry from 2010 -2013, and 54 million Yen to three officials of Uzbekistan's state-run railway firm from 2012 - 2013.
Japanese tax authorities unveiled the scandal in April 2013 and ordered JTC to pay 103 million Yen in back taxes.
Japan's 1993 unfair competition prevention law bans providing money or other benefits to foreign public servants, with penalties of imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of up to 5 million Yen.
