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Ex-director arrested for bid-rigging on bridge contracts

The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors' Office investigating a bid-rigging case on bridge construction contracts of the Japan Highway Public Corporation (JH) on July 12 arrested five corporate executives, including a former JH director, on suspicion of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law.

Investigators said that Kanda Sozo, the retired JH director, had been playing a leading role in rigging bids based on secret information the retired JH officials' organization collected from JH branches. The five suspects have basically admitted to the allegations.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representative Sasaki Kensho on the same day commented on their arrest as follows:

"It is a matter of course that people who have been deeply involved in the illegal bidding, including the former JH director, were arrested. Their arrest, the second of this kind after arrests in May for bid-rigging on government-ordered bridge construction projects, shows how deep the collusive ties among politicians, bureaucrats, and business really are. It is suspected that the collusive bidding processes were led by government officials with retired bureaucrats who now have executive jobs in corporations. It is necessary to conduct thorough investigations.

"One of the arrested is an executive of the board of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren). In the wake of the revelation of bid-riggings, Keidanren once considered declaring voluntary restraint on amakudari (descent from heaven), but soon retracted even this consideration. This demonstrates that Keidanren finds nothing wrong with amakudari. The government and Japan Highway Public Corporation bear serious responsibilities for continuing amakudari (retired government officials appointed to executive positions in corporations).

"To root out collusive biddings, it is necessary to prohibit political donations by businesses involved in bidding for public works projects, Amakudari, and overall political donations by companies and organizations." -- Akahata, July 13, 2005