baseball team and the construction of a new stadium in the greater Tokyo area. He later served as the first chairman of the Japan Olympic Committee, resigning in 1990, after less than a year. Despite his resignation, he continued to exert significant control over the committee by selecting future chairmen, which effectively prevented his opponents from serving in the position. Tsutsumi's total net worth has been unclear, as it is unknown how much he owned in assets: he almost always refused interviews, and did not permit Seibu spokespeople to reveal company information. 1998 Winter Olympics When Nagano bid to host the 1998 Winter Olympics, Tsutsumi—then head of the Japan Olympic Committee—used his financial and political influence, as well as a connection to the International Olympic Committee president, to give Nagano an edge on the bid. He continued to work with them even after stepping down from the committee, and has been cited by former Japan Olympic Committee members as the reason for Nagano's successful bid. The decision to host the Winter Olympics in Nagano was heavily criticized by environmentalist groups, noting that the construction of the ski runs necessitated the removal of forestry, and the ski runs themselves infringed upon protected land. Also criticized was the financial conflict of interest: many of the businesses in the region were owned by Seibu. Suspicions of insider trading and arrest The January 17, 2005 edition of The Wall Street Journal made an investigation on Tsutsumi and the Seibu Corporation public to English readers. According to the paper, the Seibu corporation's headquarters were raided by police, who allegedly found evidence of several Japanese business law-breaking incidents. The police, for example, claimed that the company declared that their major shareholders accounted only for 64 percent of the company's shareholders, but that, in reality, the major shareholders at Seibu actually owned 88 percent of the company's shares. Such bogus ownership statement is suspected to be illegal falsification. Major shareholders can only get up to 80 percent of a Japanese company's stock to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. That scandal was originally opened in 2002 in Japan, after which Tsutsumi was ordered by a court out of the company, but he remained in it, although at a much less paid employment. While multiple Seibu employees were involved in the scandal, Tsutsumi was considered the ringleader, as a result of position in the company and his