A former senior minister in Japan's Cabinet Office has been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from a company that was trying to set up a casino.

Tokyo prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday that Tsukasa Akimoto, a member ofLiberal Democratic Party -the ruling party led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - had been arrested. Mr Akimoto, who was at the Cabinet Office until October 2018,oversaw government policy on casinos at the time of the alleged bribe.

He is suspected of receiving 3 million yen (about 21,150) in cash from three suspects who knewtheir company wanted help with a casino bid, prosecutors said.Mr Akimoto, whose office was raided by prosecutors last week, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said he has never done any favours for the Chinese company, 500.com, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The three suspects were also arrested on suspicion of bribery, prosecutors said. No one was available for comment at Akimoto's office when contacted by Reuters.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the arrest would not affect the implementation of the policy, which is aimed at buoying the economy.

The arrest could harden opposition to casinos, which have been consistently unpopular in Japan despite the government's push to have them in operation during the early 2020s.

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Senior member of Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party arrested over casino bribery allegations - The Telegraph