OSAKA -- The Osaka City Government punished 29 officials Tuesday in connection with inflated claims made over airline ticket purchases for inspection trips to Sydney in 2000, city officials said.
The trips were made as part of Osaka's bid for the 2008 summer Olympics, they said.
The municipal government also found two irregularities in claims related to business trips by officials to Malaysia in April. It said there is an outstanding difference of 4 million yen between the actual cost of the airline tickets and the amount the officials claimed.
The 29 officials punished include 11 who made the excess claims as well as two others in charge of accounting, according to the city government.
As punishment for the embezzlement, the two officials in charge of accounting had their salaries reduced for one month. Four other officials were reprimanded, eight were given written warnings and 15 received verbal warnings, the city government said.
None of the offenders were fired for their misconduct.
"We gave out the punishment having considered the fact that we betrayed the trust of citizens regarding the Olympic bid," it said.
Meanwhile, Osaka Mayor Takafumi Isomura said, "We would like to make efforts toward regaining trust by making sure that officials attend to their work fairly."