World News Recruit exec gets suspended sentence

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The Tokyo District Court on March 4 closed what could be the last chapter of a 15-year-old bribery saga, which led to the downfall of a prime minister, by giving a suspended sentence to Hiromasa Ezoe, founder and former chairman of information conglomerate Recruit Co.

The court ruled that Ezoe bribed politicians, public officials and businessmen alike by selling them 53,000 pre-flotation shares of real estate subsidiary Recruit Cosmos Co., as the shares were certain to rise in value when the firm went public. However, the court also noted that Ezoe, 66, has been "socially punished" since the case came to light in 1988 and therefore did not send him to prison.

The court handed him a three-year sentence, suspended for five years; prosecutors had sought a four-year prison term.

During the more than 13-year trial, Ezoe has consistently denied the bribery charges. Following the verdict, Ezoe said he would consult with his lawyers on whether to appeal.

The case was the worst political scandal since the 1976 Lockheed case. The scandal led to the resignation of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita in 1989, and contributed to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's loss of an Upper House majority in an election that year.

リクルート元会長に有罪判決

　リクルート事件で贈賄罪に問われた元同社会長、江副浩正被告に対し、東京地裁は4日、有罪判決を言い渡した。

Shukan ST: March 14, 2003

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