Tokyo police raided the headquarters of Nippon Shinpan Co., popularly known as Nicos, on Sunday after allegations surfaced that its executives had paid off a racketeer.

The payments are said to have been made to ensure there would be no disruptions at the firm's general shareholders meetings.

The search came a day after a senior managing director and seven other officials of the leading Japanese consumer credit firm were arrested on suspicion of giving some 28 million yen in cash to the racketeer in violation of the Commercial Code.