TOKYO (AP) — Japanese police are seeking charges against two senior sumo wrestlers in an alleged gambling scam.
The wrestlers — both active in the sport’s second-highest division — are suspected of gambling on baseball games. Police say gangsters were involved in the gambling.
Police submitted their request for formal charges Tuesday to the Tokyo Prosecutors’ Office, which will decide whether to pursue the case against the two wrestlers and seven other suspects.
Sumo, Japan’s national sport, has been hit by a series of scandals in recent years and is now reeling from allegations of widespread bout-fixing. The alleged bout-fixing came to light when police were examining text messages on cell phones confiscated during the baseball gambling investigation.
