秋本前議員、受託収賄を否認　事業者から７２００万円―洋上風力汚職初公判・東京地裁

　洋上風力発電事業を巡り、事業者側から賄賂計約７２００万円を受け取ったなどとして、受託収賄と詐欺の罪に問われた前衆院議員秋本真利被告（４９）の初公判が２５日、東京地裁（矢野直邦裁判長）であった。被告は現金受領や借り入れを認めた上で「職務の対価ではなく、利益供与でもない」と述べ、受託収賄罪について無罪を主張。詐欺罪の成立は争わない意向を示した。
　公訴時効（３年）が経過していない計約４１００万円分について贈賄罪に問われた「日本風力開発」（東京）元社長の塚脇正幸被告（６５）は、起訴時に贈賄を認めていたが、罪状認否では一転して「全くの誤りです」と起訴内容を否認した。（2024/11/25-16:17）

Former Japanese lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges of taking bribes from an offshore wind power company over a project in the northeastern prefecture of Aomori.
   Akimoto, a 49-year-old former member of the House of Representatives, has been charged with receiving about 72 million yen in bribes from Masayuki Tsukawaki, a 65-year-old former president of Japan Wind Development Co.
   At the first hearing of his trial at Tokyo District Court, Akimoto said that he received the payment but added that the money was "neither a reward for a job nor a benefit."
   Tsukawaki also pleaded not guilty to bribing Akimoto. He has been charged with giving the former lawmaker about 41 million yen in bribes, the amount whose three-year statute of limitations has not expired. "It's completely false that I bribed," Tsukawaki said.
   Akimoto also said he will not contest separate charges of illegally receiving 2 million yen in COVID-19 relief subsidies.