Japan Maglev contractors raided in bid rigging probe

Prosecutors have raided the headquarters of several of Japan’s biggest construction companies in an investigation into alleged collusion on bids for a multibillion dollar high-speed maglev train line. (Photo by Tim Adams/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

TOKYO — Prosecutors have raided the headquarters of several of Japan’s biggest construction companies in an investigation into alleged collusion on bids for a multibillion dollar high-speed maglev train line.

News reports Tuesday showed investigators heading into the headquarters of Taisei Corp. and Obayashi Corp., two of four companies targeted in the probe.

Shimizu Corp. and Kajima Corp., the two others, issued statements Tuesday acknowledging the raids.

Kajima said it conducts training focused on preventing bid rigging and apologized, saying the situation “grieves us extremely.”

The $50 billion magnetic levitation, or maglev, railway between Tokyo and Nagoya is a decades-long project. The builders are alleged to have colluded to co-ordinate bidding and ensure each won a similar share of construction contracts for the line, called the Linear Chuo Shinkansen.