Police on Sunday searched the Tama mayor's office and other places for evidence that Mayor Kunihiko Suzuki accepted bribes from the head of a Tokyo waste-collection company. Suzuki was arrested Saturday.
The police believe Suzuki, 44, received several million yen from Masami Masuda, head of Toto Kogyo, based in nearby Inagi, in October 1999. Masuda, 52, was arrested on suspicion of bribing the mayor.
They also arrested Toyokazu Kojima, 55, a construction company president, and Kazuo Akiyama, 47, president of another construction firm, on suspicion of accepting bribes from Masuda.
Suzuki is suspected of asking Toto Kogyo for money through Kojima and Akiyama. Toto Kogyo was contracted to collect garbage in Tama for more than 30 years and the company receives 190 million yen annually in orders from the city.
In August 1998, a 12-year-old boy was killed after apparently being thrown into a Toto Kogyo garbage truck while playing in a public garbage bin.
The police suspect Suzuki urged the company to give him money, taking advantage of the firm's fears that the city would cancel the contract after the accident.