MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Tokyo prosecutors have questioned the Japanese Olympic Committee president over payments made by Tokyo’s team to a Singaporean consultancy that allegedly led to winning the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics bid, local media reported Wednesday.
The questioning of Tsunekazu Takeda, who led the successful bid, and several other people was voluntary and was carried out at the request of the French authorities, Kyodo news agency said. According to Takeda, during questioning he denied any illegitimacy in the process of defining the 2020 Olympic Games host city.
Last May, Takeda confirmed the payments to Black Tidings but claimed they were for legitimate consultancy work. A Japanese investigative panel concluded four months later that the payments were neither illegal, nor against the ethics code of the International Olympic Committee.
French financial prosecutors initiated investigation into the allegations of corruption and money laundering on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid in May 2016 after reports in the British media on the dubious payments. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to provide assistance in probing to the French authorities.
