Following its September 28, 2020 announcement concerning the resignation of the company’s auditors, 500.com Limited, an online gambling company, disclosed on October 7, 2020, that the Special Investigation Committee of the company’s Board of Directors had completed its internal investigation into potential unlawful payments to Japanese government officials. The company stated in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that, based on the findings and analyses of the multinational law firm engaged to conduct the investigation, the Special Investigation Committee had not found a sufficient basis to establish a violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by 500.com. 500.com added that it had updated its compliance policies, procedures, and internal controls in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee.
Although 500.com’s press release refers to “reported allegations against certain former consultants by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office,” it was been widely reported in press articles that two former consultants for 500.com pled guilty and a former Japanese government official has been arrested for, among other things, accepting bribes from the consultants.