Prosecutors will raid offices of bridge builders and Japan Highway Public Corp. on Wednesday on suspicion of rigging bids for Japan Highway bridge construction projects, investigative sources said Monday.
The focus of the investigation by the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office will be on whether Japan Highway officials were involved in the bid rigging.
A former senior executive at Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. charged with rigging bids for government bridge construction projects was directly involved in arranging bogus bidding to ensure there was a predesignated winner, according to sources.
Masami Seimiya, 49, former head of Ishikawajima-Harima's bridge building division, is believed to have picked the by-bidders after a former director of Japan Highway Public Corp. working at Yokogawa Bridge Corp. had decided on the winner.
Prosecutors have indicted eight business executives, including Seimiya, and 26 bridge-building companies in the elaborately organized bid-rigging practice that spanned more than 40 years.
Two networks of a total of 47 construction companies are suspected to be involved in the scheme.