Expo construction costs inflated, used to renovate home and cafe; former director arrested

On the 20th, it was revealed through interviews with investigators that Tatsumi Kawai (61), a former site supervisor at Takenaka Corporation, a major general contractor who was arrested by the Osaka Prefectural Police in connection with a breach of trust case related to construction work at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, appears to have used the fraudulently inflated amount of approximately 13 million yen to renovate his home in Nara City, an apartment he separately owns, and a cafe run by a relative.

Former director of Takenaka Corporation arrested for inflating claims related to Expo construction - suspected of breach of trust of 13 million yen, Osaka Prefectural Police

The total renovation cost is estimated to be more than 60 million yen, and the prefectural police sent Kawai to the prosecutor's office on the same day. We believe that other inflated claims were made, and we are working to uncover the full details of the incident.

Suspect Kawai conspired with the representative of a subcontracted construction company (Nara Prefecture) last year when he was the general manager of the construction site. He is suspected of causing damage to Takenaka Corporation by inflating the bill for the interior work of a temporary office used by workers of the ``Big Roof Ring'' at the Expo venue, which was originally about 14.1 million yen, by a total of 13.69 million yen.

According to prefectural police and other sources, the representative of the construction company has known Kawai for about 20 years and arranged for a contractor to renovate the suspect's home and cafe. Renovation work will begin in 2023, and it appears that the cost of the renovations was added to the Expo's construction costs to inflate the bill.