The official accusations will soon arrive for the scandal of the Tokyo Olympics

Prosecutors are preparing a series of indictments now that the Fair Trade Commission has filed criminal complaints against Japan’s two largest advertising agencies for rigging bids for events leading up to the Tokyo Olympics.

The criminal complaints include advertising giants Dentsu Inc. and Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc., a smaller advertising company called Tokyu Agency Inc., event planning companies Cerespo Co. and Same Two Inc., and production company television Fuji Creative Corp.

They also cover seven key people, including Yasuo Mori, 56, who served as deputy executive director of the Tokyo Olympic Games organizing committee operations office; Koji Henmi, 55, a former deputy director of Dentsu’s sports division; Yoshiji Kamata, 59, managing director of Cerespo; and Masahiko Fujino, 63, an executive at Fuji Creative Corp.

According to the FTC, Mori and executives from six companies, including Dentsu, engaged in fraud in the competitive bidding process.

They did so by deciding between February and July 2018 which companies would be awarded the bids to host the pre-Olympic events, as well as subsequent competitions during the Tokyo Olympics.

The contracts amounted to 40 billion yen ($293 million).

Three of the nine winning companies are not included in the criminal complaint.

The FTC granted leniency to ADK Holdings Inc., the third-largest ad agency, because it was the first to report wrongdoing to the FTC.

It also determined that two other ad agencies were not involved in bid rigging.

The maximum penalty for companies found to have violated the Antimonopoly Law by restricting fair competition is 5 million yen, while individuals face maximum penalties of five years in prison or a 5 million yen fine.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at his February 28 press conference that if the allegations of bid rigging are true, they damage the image of sports in Japan.