Prosecutors suspect that the former head of the Niigata Municipal Government's sewage construction section was passed the job of leaking contract information to bidders from his predecessor, municipal government sources said Wednesday.
Takayuki Yuki, 55, arrested by prosecutors Tuesday on suspicion of rigging bids, told a municipal investigative committee that he took over the practice from his predecessor, the sources said.
Yuki is suspected of leaking information on a contract for a sewage system project to a local construction company in March 2002 before the start of competitive bidding.
The sources said the company won the contract at a bid price of 48.9 million yen, just 60,000 yen less than the planned contract price. Tadashi Uchida, 68, head of the company, was also arrested Tuesday.