Prosecutors on Monday arrested Michio Uchida, vice president of Japan Highway Public Corp., for allegedly helping to rig bids for bridge projects ordered by the highway body.
Investigators also searched Japan Highway's headquarters in Tokyo for evidence.
Uchida, 60, is suspected of helping his colleagues violate the Antimonopoly Law in a case involving the construction of an elevated bridge in Shizuoka Prefecture in May 2004, and of breach of trust for causing the government-run highway operator to make up to 50 million yen in unnecessary payments.