[JP] Senior executives of Taisei and Kajima found guilty of bid-rigging

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[JP] Senior executives of Taisei and Kajima found guilty of bid-rigging

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Senior executives of Taisei and Kajima found guilty of bid-rigging

The Tokyo High Court on March 2, 2023, upheld a lower court's guilty verdict against Taisei Corp. and Kajima Corp. for bid-rigging in the Chuo Shinkansen bullet train project.

The High Court, presided over by Judge Toshikazu Ishii, rejected the defence's appeal against the Tokyo District Court's ruling, which ordered the two major general contractors to pay 250 million yen each in fines and sentenced former Taisei executive Takashi Okawa, 72, and former Kajima executive Ichiro Osawa, 65, to 18 months' imprisonment each, suspended for three years.

At the appeal hearing, the defence claimed that Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) which will operate the maglev line, had decided to award contracts to certain contractors and that there was therefore no competition. The judge rejected the claim. According to the ruling, Okawa and Osawa, in conspiracy with officials of two other major general contractors - Obayashi Corp. and Shimizu Corp., restricted competition by agreeing on contract winners in advance and informing each other of their planned bid prices for three construction sections between April 2014 and August 2015.

Info based on a Report by Jiji Press Tokyo, March 2, 2023 https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj20230 ... gging.html Accessed 2023-03-02

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