The former head of a Teikyo University affiliate was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison, suspended for four years, in connection with a money-for-admissions scandal.
The Tokyo District Court also slapped a 35 million yen fine on Yoshikazu Okinaga, 59, former head of Teikyo Gakuen, which runs schools connected to the Tokyo-based university.
Okinaga was accused of evading about 140 million yen in income tax by concealing some 310 million yen in donations over a four-year period until 2000.
The funds came from the parents of eight students who took exams to enter the university's medical school.
Presiding Judge Koji Inaba said in handing down the ruling that Okinaga's crime stemmed from avarice as he evaded taxes and took advantage of the parents by demanding kickbacks. As a result, public trust was lost in the credibility of exam results from Teikyo University.
However, Inaba cited Okinaga's resignation as head of Teikyo Gakuen as a reason for the suspended term.
The ruling also fell short of prosecutors' demand for a fine of 42 million yen.
Okinaga was arrested in November on suspicion of tax evasion, and admitted to the charges and apologized for his actions.
Okinaga is the younger brother of Shoichi Okinaga, former chief executive officer and president of Teikyo University. The elder Okinaga has since resigned from both posts, and the CEO position was abolished after the scandal.
The scandal surfaced in fall 2001 when it was learned that some parents of students hoping to take the medical entrance exams paid more than 10 million yen to the university.
Such donations run contrary to a 1981 education ministry bylaw banning donations from students and their families before they are formally admitted.