Aoki Holdings founder Hironori Aoki pleaded guilty Thursday to offering ¥28 million in bribes to former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee executive Haruyuki Takahashi in exchange for having the suit company selected as a sponsor for the Games.

Thursday’s hearing at the Tokyo District Court was the first related to a series of scandals involving the Tokyo Games, which were held last year. To date, five bribery cases have been opened, leading to the indictment of 15 individuals, Aoki among them.

Aoki, 84, who previously served as chairman of Aoki Holdings, said "that is correct," when a judge asked if the allegations laid out by prosecutors were true, amounting to a guilty plea. Aoki had occasionally nodded as the prosecutors read out the indictment.

Takahisa Aoki, 76, the former vice chairman of apparel-maker Aoki Holdings and younger brother of the founder, as well as Katsuhisa Ueda, 41, a former executive at the firm, also pleaded guilty in the same trial.

Prosecutors had alleged that the three handed over money on more than 30 occasions between September 2019 and March this year so that the firm would be chosen as a sponsor for the sporting event, be picked to provide suits that athletes on the national team would wear, and have the additional sponsorship fee due to the Games' postponement reduced.

Takahashi reportedly received ¥51 million, but because of a three-year statute of limitations for bribery, prosecutors presented their case focusing on only ¥28 million.

Organizing committee members were considered quasi-public servants and were forbidden by law from accepting money or goods from those seeking favors.

Takahashi, 78, a former executive with advertising giant Dentsu, has denied the bribery allegations and says that all payments from Aoki were legitimate consulting fees. The Aoki trial is expected to affect Takahashi’s case, especially regarding what the Aoki side actually requested from Takahashi and whether he wielded his power to meet those requests.

Prosecutors have confiscated emails between the two sides and voice recordings of meetings between Hironori Aoki and Takahashi.

The bribery probes first surfaced in the summer, with Hironori Aoki and Takahashi among the first to be arrested. The scandal then widened to include major publisher Kadokawa, Daiko Advertising, ADK Holdings and Sun Arrow. Takahashi has been indicted four times over alleged bribery.

The scandals have shocked the public due to the involvement of high-profile business leaders: Hironori Aoki; Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, 79, the now-former chairman of Kadokawa Holdings; and Shinichi Ueno, 68, president of ADK Holdings, the third-largest advertising agency in Japan.

Those suspected of offering money to Takahashi allegedly expected him to wield his influence to select their firms for Tokyo Games sponsorship contracts or arrange license agreements for event-related goods.

The series of scandals has also reflected how powerful Takahashi was in the world of mass sporting events, from his days at Dentsu to his post in the Tokyo Organising Committee.

The scandals have also cast a shadow over the prospect of Sapporo’s bidding for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

On Tuesday, Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said his city would halt promotion efforts aimed at increasing momentum for its bid in the wake of scandals surrounding the Tokyo Olympics.

“We must first dispel the public’s unease rather than rushing forward blindly without thinking,” Akimoto said during a news conference held jointly with the Japanese Olympic Committee in Tokyo.

Information from Kyodo added