A Tokyo court on Thursday fined major advertising firm Dentsu Group Inc 300 million yen, the amount sought by prosecutors, for its role in bid-rigging related to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

The Tokyo District Court also sentenced former Dentsu executive Koji Hemmi to two years in prison, suspended for four years, for rigging bids on contracts to plan test events and operate venues for the 2021 Summer Games. Prosecutors had sought a two-year prison term.

Dentsu became the third company convicted among six indicted over alleged bid-rigging related to the global sporting event. Both the company and Hemmi have appealed the rulings.

In the trial, Dentsu admitted to rigging bids for contracts worth over 500 million yen to plan and run pre-games test events but denied colluding with others to restrict transactions for about 43.1 billion yen in contracts related to the games' operations.

Prosecutors argued that planning the test events and managing the Games were effectively the same operations, which restricted competition. Their case was based on previous testimonies, including that of a former operating executive on the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, whose guilty verdict for bid-rigging has been finalized.

Citing testimony, Presiding Judge Kenji Yasunaga said companies running the test events were told they would likely be commissioned to manage the Games and that Dentsu was aware of this.

Dentsu restricted competition by indicating in meetings that bids were more likely to be accepted if firms submitted tenders in line with the former operating executive's wishes, Yasunaga said.

Hemmi received a suspended sentence as there was no evidence that information was exchanged in a way that allowed companies to secure assignments, and the court found he had not acted for personal gain.

Dentsu said in a press release, "The decision differs significantly from our claims. We will reassert our justifications in the appeal and request that the ruling be rectified."

Besides Dentsu, advertising agencies Hakuhodo Inc and Tokyu Agency Inc, along with event production companies Cerespo Co, Fuji Creative Corp, and Same Two Inc, were indicted on suspicion of colluding in bid-rigging with the former deputy director between February and July 2018.

Last year, the court fined Hakuhodo 200 million yen and Cerespo 280 million yen. Both firms have appealed the rulings.