On Thursday, Japanese prosecutors raided two offices of a lawmaker having an alliance with the ruling party for his alleged connection with China’s casino and sports gambling operator, who is under investigation for violating the foreign currency exchange law.
Tsukasa Akimoto, a lawmaker belonging to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has always openly supported the idea of introducing casino resorts in Japan. He was responsible for evolving the government’s integrated resort project policy, which will have the very first casino in Japan along with hotel and conference amenities. He supervised the program from August 2017 to October 2018 by being in the position of senior vice minister at the Cabinet Office.
Akimoto’s parliamentary and constituency offices were searched by Tokyo prosecutors’ special investigation squad. This was part of the investigation done regarding his link with the Chinese firm that had shown interest in taking part in the casino project.
Recently Japan has legalized casino resorts. The government has plans to set up gaming complexes at three locations that are still to be chosen. The complexes are expected to begin operation by mid-2020s.
The Shenzhen based company owns sports betting and online casinos business along with other ventures. It is assumed that they have brought in a few million yen in the form of cash from overseas, without previous notice. This is prohibited under the foreign exchange law of Japan. The law forbids any individual from carrying cash more than 1M yen ($9,100) into the country without notifying customs authorities.
