It appears that investigators are closing in on a former executive member of the Tokyo Games organizing committee who is suspected of arranging bid-rigging involving test events for the Games.

Tokyo prosecutors and the Japan Fair Trade Commission suspect that major ad agency Dentsu and some other companies rigged bids for the test events of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games together with the organizing committee.

Informed sources say investigators are looking into a total of 26 bids made in 2018 to select firms that would be entrusted with the planning for the test events.

The sources say the organizing committee asked Dentsu to research companies that had won tenders for sports events before and to find out whether they were interested in the test events.

The organizing committee reportedly compiled a list of potential bidders that had agreed to take part in its bidding.

NHK has learned that the committee's former deputy executive director overseeing the test events is suspected of helping fix the bids by informing some of the companies that potential winners of bids had already been chosen for each venue.

In some cases, the former deputy showed the list to the firms.

The investigators are expected to bring criminal charges against the official who they suspect led the bid-rigging together with Dentsu executives.