Haruki Kadokawa's four-year prison term for cocaine smuggling and embezzlement stands, the Tokyo High Court ruled Monday, rejecting an appeal from the 56-year-old former president of Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co.
The high court upheld a lower court ruling that found the former media tycoon guilty of violating the Narcotics Control Law, rejecting his claim of innocence.
In June 1996, the Chiba District Court convicted Kadokawa of conspiring with a Kadokawa Shoten employee and a member of the board of an affiliated firm to smuggle about 80 grams of cocaine from the United States through New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, on July 9, 1993.
According to the court, Kadokawa embezzled money from the publishing house on 30 occasions between March 1987 and November 1992 and deposited about 31 million yen into the bank account of a Japanese person in the entertainment industry who lived in Los Angeles.
The money was used to purchase cocaine and other narcotics for Kadokawa and Kyoko Sakamoto, 45, a former member of the board of a company affiliated with Kadokawa Shoten, it said.
Sakamoto was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating the Narcotics Control Law. She has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
The smuggling came to light when a photographer employed at the publishing house was arrested at Narita airport and confessed that the cocaine was for Kadokawa's use.
During a hearing at the Tokyo High Court, however, the photographer reversed his testimony, claiming he was not following Kadokawa's orders but was acting on his own accord to earn his livelihood. The photographer has already finished serving a sentence for cocaine smuggling.