Guilty Rulings to Be Finalized for Taisei, Kajima over Maglev Bid-Rigging

Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court has dismissed appeals against the guilty rulings of Taisei Corp. and Kajima Corp., as well as former executives of the two major general contractors, in a bid-rigging case involving the Chuo Shinkansen magnetic levitation train line project.

On Monday, the five justices on the top court's Third Petty Bench, presided over by Justice Eriko Watanabe, unanimously decided to reject the appeals.

The 18-month prison sentences for former Taisei executive Takashi Okawa, 75, and former senior Kajima official Ichiro Osawa, 69, suspended for three years, and the 250-million-yen fines on the two companies are now set to be finalized.

Fines on two other major general contractors, Obayashi Corp. and Shimizu Corp., have already been finalized. Their officials were not prosecuted after the two firms voluntarily reported the bid-rigging.

The Third Petty Bench said that the exchange of information among the four companies' senior officials undermined the premise of competition, creating a situation in which contract prices could be manipulated to some extent.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]