The Japanese House of Representatives member accused of accepting bribes on behalf of an early IR candidate has had a bail request denied for the fifth time.
The defense team for 49-year-old Tsukasa Akimoto requested bail at the Tokyo Court late last week but that request has been turned down, according to Kyodo News.
It was the fifth request for bail made by Akimoto. He was released on bail in February 2020 on charges of bribery but re-arrested in August under suspicion of bribing a witness to commit perjury and has now been detained for around nine months. He also requested bail on 7 May but the court refused four days later.
The Congressman was serving as State Minister of the Cabinet Office at the time the bribery allegedly took place. He is accused of accepting a total of JPY 760 million from advisors of Chinese company online games firm 500.com in 2018 in addition to attempting to instigate false testimony by bribing those who were accused of bribing him.
Akimoto has consistently claimed his innocence but the four other individuals involved in the allegations have already been found guilty of bribery and attempting to get a witness to commit perjury.
His trial continues.
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