Nagano governor to push for probes

Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka says he will push for more government inquiries into the excesses he helped uncover about the Japanese city's successful bid against Salt Lake City for the 1998 Winter Games.

In an interview with the Deseret Morning News via e-mail, Tanaka said he launched his own investigation in an effort "to uncover the true facts behind the bid. Serious doubts had already been raised by many citizens about the activities" of the regional government at the time.

The investigation group formed by Tanaka released a report late last year that found an "illegitimate and excessive level of hospitality" was handed out by Nagano during the bid, including $4.4 million spent on entertainment alone.

The Nagano Prefecture Investigation Group Report noted that nearly $544,000 in souvenirs were given to members of the International Olympic Committee — an average of about $5,700 each, even though the IOC gift limit then was just $200 per member.

Questions were raised in the report, too, about whether crimes were committed when bid records were destroyed and a signature was forged on a document needed to take a ceremonial sword valued at $13,000 out of the country to present as a gift to then-IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The Nagano governor said that while the investigation group "does not possess any legal authority, the discovery of proven facts has at least provided an answer to citizens' doubts and questions" about the bid.

Salt Lake City lost that bid 14 1/2 years ago to Nagano in a close vote but went on to be awarded the 2002 Winter Games. While there were always rumors about Nagano's lavish treatment of the IOC, it was Salt Lake that got into trouble.

Utah bidders were accused of trying to buy IOC votes with more than $1 million in cash, gifts, trips, scholarships, medical treatments and other inducements — apparently following the example set by Nagano in the earlier bid.

Unlike Nagano, which burned its bid records, Salt Lake documented everything. That information was used to prosecute two Salt Lake bid leaders, Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, although the federal government's case against them was thrown out midtrial by a Utah judge.

Tanaka was elected after Nagano hosted the Olympics on a pledge to reopen the investigation into the bid. "Of particular concern was the destruction of the accounting records . . . (which led) to considerable general distrust," the governor said.