(ATR) Singapore authorities say the consultant who was paid $2 million by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid is lying.
Tan Tong Han is charged with two counts of giving false information regarding the payment during questioning by investigators in 2015.
Tan, president of Singapore consultancy firm Black Tidings, is accused of lying about $547,819 sent to his bank account from a company known as Pamodzi Consulting.
The company is owned by Papa Massata Diack, the son of ex-International Association of Athletics Federations president Lamine Diack. The two men are under investigation in France for possible money laundering and bribery. The elder Diack is banned for life from the IAAF for accepting bribes from athletes in Russia. His son has been implicated in the bribery scheme as well.
Asked about the situation with Tan and Tokyo 2020 at the daily news briefing at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the IOC works to make the bidding process "clean, open, and transparent". He did not say if the IOC has opened an investigation into allegations of vote buying for Tokyo 2020, but reiterated cooperation with French authorities investigating the matter.
"We are parte civil with the French justice system so we are in regular contact with them on the whole issue," Adams said.
Arising out of this investigation are suspicions that the Diacks were also involved in bribery of IOC members to secure votes for the Rio de Janeiro bid for the 2016 Olympics and the Tokyo 2020 bid. In Brazil, Carlos Nuzman, former head of the bid and organizing committee as well as an IOC member until 2012, has been charged by Brazilian authorities.
An inquiry in Japan has failed to find any wrongdoing on the part of the Tokyo bid. The Japanese inquiry says the payment to the Singapore consultant was for consulting services. Tan and his Black Tidings firm are unknown otherwise in the circle of worldwide experts who are paid for their services on behalf of Olympic bids.
Tan is free on bail and is due to return to court March 15.
Homepage photo: Getty Images
Reported by Ed Hula.
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