Japanese advertising giant Dentsu was one of the driving forces behind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, helping bring in a record-shattering $3.6 billion in sponsorships and coordinating everything down to the smallest details.
On Tuesday, Japan’s prosecutors accused the company of breaking the law in the process, claiming it, and five others, conspired to evade the public bidding process leading up to the Games.
The accusations came as part of a widening investigation into corruption surrounding the 2020 Olympics, which were delayed until 2021 because of the pandemic.
Japanese prosecutors have cast a wide net, charging executives from some of Japan’s top companies with bribery as they vied for high-profile sponsorship deals and sought contracts for, among other things, manufacturing Olympic uniforms and publishing printed materials for the Games.