Prosecutors plan to question a 70-year-old former board member of the Japan Highway Public Corp. as early as this week over a bid-rigging scandal for bridge construction projects, according to sources.
The Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office also plans to question two other key figures -- a 49-year-old former head of the bridge building division at Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. and a 54-year-old deputy manager of the bridge-building section of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., the sources said.
The move comes after the Fair Trade Commission filed a criminal complaint Wednesday with prosecutors against three bridge builders -- Yokogawa Bridge Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy and Ishikawajima-Harima -- for alleged collusion to rig bids for the projects financed by the public corporation in 2003 and 2004.
The former Japan Highway executive director has admitted to involvement in rigging bids but denied the public corporation played a role, investigation sources said earlier.
He is suspected of playing a key role in deciding which company would win each bid, with the former senior official of Mitsubishi Heavy advising him, the sources said.
The former Japan Highway board member allegedly informed the designated winner by contacting officials at the winning companies, who also used to work for Japan Highway, the sources said.
The official from Ishikawajima-Harima, identified as Masami Seimiya, has been indicted for allegedly rigging bids on the government's bridge construction projects.
Data destroyed
Tokyo prosecutors who searched the headquarters of Japan Highway Public Corp. last week over massive bid-rigging for bridge construction projects saw some employees erase data from computers, sources said Saturday.
Before the prosecutors searched Japan Highway on Wednesday, employees also destroyed documents and moved and erased other computer data, the sources said.