KOBE (Kyodo) A former mayor of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday and ordered to pay ¥11 million for taking bribes from parties seeking to land public works contracts.
The Kobe District Court handed down the term to Yoshihide Sakaue, 62, for accepting ¥11 million in bribes, rejecting his defense counsel's appeal for a suspended sentence.
Sakaue became mayor by pledging to restore public trust in the city government after his predecessor was arrested in 2006 on the same charge.
According to court documents, Sakaue took ¥1 million from the president of a consulting firm who wanted to land a contract for a cemetery development plan in 2006 shortly after Sakaue became mayor.
He also took ¥5 million in October that year and another ¥5 million in March 2007 from the president of a waste disposal company in exchange for leaking the target bid for a solid waste management contract, they said.