Overview
- The First Petty Bench rejected appeals on December 9, finalizing a ¥300 million fine for Dentsu Group and a two‑year prison term for former executive Koji Henmi, suspended for four years.
- Lower courts found that from February to July 2018 the defendants coordinated winners for test‑event planning and main‑games operations, restricting competition under the Antimonopoly Act.
- Judges treated the test‑event work of about ¥500 million and the main‑games operations totaling roughly ¥43.2 billion as a single bid‑rigging scheme.
- Dentsu acknowledged coordination on test events but denied doing so for the main operations, an argument the Supreme Court found insufficient to warrant review.
- Of six indicted companies, this is the first finalized corporate conviction, while three firms including Hakuhodo are appealing lower‑court guilty rulings and two companies remain in first‑instance trials.