Former Tokyo chief prosecutor to be reinvestigated over gambling
An inquest body has ruled that former chief of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office Hiromu Kurokawa should be indicted over gambling.
The Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution concluded that Kurokawa, 63, should face trial, having previously chosen not to indict him earlier this year.
Therefore, Kurokawa will now be reinvestigated.
He stepped down from his position in May after a weekly magazine reported that he had been involved in illegal gambling activity, but escaped indictment after being accused of playing mahjong for money with employees of two major Japanese daily newspapers.
The gambling had reportedly taken place with news reporters from Sankei Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun in April and May, at a time when the country was under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The two Sankei Shimbun reporters and one former reporter at The Asahi Shimbun, as well as Kurokawa, had all shown remorse after being reprimanded by their respective organisations, with all four avoiding prosecution.
But a new panel of citizens has ruled that Kurokawa will now be indicted for his actions, stating: “In his position, he was meant to stop such illegal acts, and the influence of his involvement in mahjong for money on society is big.”
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