A fired senior Bank of Japan official pleaded guilty Thursday to accepting 4.3 million yen in bribes from two banks but denied leaking vital BOJ information in exchange for the lavish favors.
Yasuyuki Yoshizawa, 42, former chief manager of the Capital Markets Division of the BOJ's Credit and Market Management Department, entered the plea in his first hearing before the Tokyo District Court. He stands accused of taking bribes from the Industrial Bank of Japan and Sanwa Bank over four years from May 1993.
Yoshizawa was allegedly wined and dined by IBJ officials on 58 occasions to the tune of 3.16 million yen, and similarly entertained and treated to golf outings by Sanwa Bank on 29 occasions for about 1.15 million yen. "I would like to apologize to the public for disgracing the BOJ's social and international standings," Yoshizawa said as he entered his plea. "There is no doubt about the fact that I was entertained by those banks, based on my position at the BOJ at that time."