Two graduate students were arrested Tuesday for alleged involvement in gambling on baseball games in 2014 and 2015, police said.
Shigeo Matsunaga, 40, and Kentaro Oishi, 26, are suspected of helping organize gambling on around 15 pro and 15 high school games between March 2014 and August 2015, as well as taking commissions from eight bettors, including former Yomiuri Giants pitchers Shoki Kasahara and Satoshi Fukuda, the police said.
Kasahara, 25, is currently on trial for allegedly assisting another bookmaker, Satoshi Saito, 38.
Matsunaga, a former accounting firm employee studying management at a university in Nagoya Prefecture, denied the allegations, telling police, "I did not intend to take a commission."
Oishi has reportedly admitted his involvement.
Kasahara, who admitted during his first court session Monday to helping Saito in facilitating gambling by collecting money from two other former Giants pitchers, was a customer at gambling sessions operated by both Saito and Matsunaga, according to the police.
Kasahara met Matsunaga through Oishi in April 2014, and they were seen at illegal casinos in Tokyo and Yokohama, according to Nippon Professional Baseball and sources familiar with the matter. Kasahara then introduced Fukuda to Matsunaga in May 2015.
Matsunaga and Oishi allegedly sent betting odds for games to customers by email.
The police are continuing their investigation. They suspect Saito handed over the money to more senior organizers, with possible yakuza involvement.
Another former Yomiuri pitcher, Ryuya Matsumoto, is suspected of placing bets with Matsunaga, although he is not one of the eight customers named so far.