FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2013, file photo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, shakes hands with President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge as Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bid Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda stands by after signing the Host City Contract for the 2020 Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A shell company in Singapore is increasingly emerging at the heart of what French prosecutors believe was an organized web of corruption in sports, with their suspicions now extending to Tokyoâs winning bid for the 2020 Olympics. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
The Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) - The president of the Japanese Olympic Committee said the body will investigate the Tokyo 2020 bidding process and payments to a Singapore firm that has enmeshed the bid in a bribery investigation.
Tsunekazu Takeda, who had been one of the leaders of the bid committee, told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that people involved with the bid would be investigated.
"We have decided to start an investigation into the matter, including questioning staff, to determine whether there was any illegality involved," Takeda said.
French prosecutors have said that 2.8 million Singapore dollars ($2 million) was apparently transferred from Japan to the Singapore account of a company called Black Tidings.
The account holder, Ian Tan Tong Han, has been closely tied to the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, who is facing corruption charges.
Takeda has acknowledged the payments were made, but said they were for services such as bid planning and lobbying advice.
Diack, once one of the most influential men in sports, was a member of the International Olympic Committee. He is under investigation in France, barred from leaving the country while the probe continues.
FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2013, file photo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, Governor of Tokyo and Chairman of Tokyo 2020, Naoki Inose, second from left, and other members of the Japanese delegation celebrate as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge announces that Tokyo will host the 2020 Olympic Games during the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A shell company in Singapore is increasingly emerging at the heart of what French prosecutors believe was an organized web of corruption in sports, with their suspicions now extending to Tokyoâs winning bid for the 2020 Olympics.(AP Photo/Ian Watson, Pool, File)
The Associated Press
In this Monday, May 16, 2016, photo, shoes, umbrellas and other belongings are seen outside the door of an apartment registered to a Singaporean company "Black Tidings" in Singapore. The leader of Tokyo's winning bid for the 2020 Olympics was summoned to the Japanese parliament Tuesday to explain the payment he has acknowledged making to a firm, Black Tidings, in Singapore. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
The Associated Press