Shin Nakagomi arrived at Kansai International Airport on Monday and told reporters upon arrival that he never fixed a game.  He also said that it was very difficult to admit to something he never did and that he did in order to get back to his family.

Nakagomi would like to continue pursuing a career in baseball, but will talk it over with people around him before deciding on what to do next.

See also:

CPBL Gambling Scandal

Shin Nakagomi has apparently been given permission to return to Japan after he managed to pay a 5.1M yen fine at the end of January.

See also:

CPBL Gambling Scandal

The Taiwanese High Court decided on Thursday that Shin Nakagomi's suspended 20-month prison sentence (over 4 years) and fine (1.8M Taiwan dollars, or about 5.1M yen) would be upheld as originally ruled.  And while Nakagomi is currently not allowed to leave Taiwan, they may allow him to leave if he pays the fine.

Nakagomi was convicted of fixing games on 8/17.

The CPBL apparently felt that Shin Nakagomi's sentencing was too light and had filed an appeal late last month.  The next round of court dates probably won't be until October.

The irony in all of this is that Nakagomi pleaded guilty on all charges in order to expedite the trial and get back to Japan as soon as possible (his family is going through some problems right now and he wanted to be with them).  Now it seems he won't be able to get back until after the second trial.

Shin Nakagomi was found guilty of game-fixing and fraud by a Taiwan court earlier today.  Nakagomi was handed a 20 month prison term with a s suspended sentence of 4 years.  As part of the suspended sentence, Nakagomi will also have to pay a 1.8M Taiwan dollar fine (about 4.8M yen).

Nakagomi was apparently not at the proceedings.

Shin Nakagomi pleaded guilty to all charges of game-fixing and fraud at the Banciao District Court in Taiwan on Tuesday.  Nakagomi had previously admitted to one count of game-fixing but apparently changed his mind in attempt to get a suspended sentence (the prosecutors are seeking an 18-month prison term).  Nakagomi also told the court that he wanted to return to Japan as soon as possible so that he could get back to taking care of his struggling family.

According to other reports, the CPBL is also planning on seeking a combined $11.5M in compensation from everyone that is convicted.

A final ruling will be made on 8/17.

I haven't been able to confirm this with any English sources yet, but it appears Shin Nakagomi has admitted to partial guilt in the CBPL scandal.  The prosecution is claiming that Nakagomi helped fix 5 games between 2008 and 2009 by using pitchers that were in on the scandal and that he received 1.5M TD in compensation.  Of these, Nakagomi is apparently admitting to helping fix one game in September 2009 and receiving 200,000 TD in compensation.  In addition to this, Nakagomi is claiming that he involved himself in the scandal because he wanted to help players that were being scared into cooperating with the gangs that were behind the fixes.

=== 10:39pm JST

etaiwannews has a story up that confirms this:

The charges covered games in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League between 2006 and 2009, but suspicions have expanded to the Olympics because several members of the gambling syndicate traveled to China at the time and several of the indicted players were part of the Taiwanese team, reports said.

*snip*

At the Olympics, Taiwan first led by 2-0 and later by 7-3, but after a game full of surprises, the national team lost 7-8 to China, a country without any reputation in baseball.

What a mess...

=== 2/11/2010 6:12pm JST

There really isn't much on this right now, but a number of articles are pointing to an article in the China Times (a paper out of Taiwan) that connects some of the players named in the CPBL scandal as being present in China when Taiwan beat China at the Olympics in 2008. It seems investigators are now checking to see if there might be any links between the two.

An update on the scandal that hit the CBPL.  And it seems like prosecutors are also going after Shin Nakagomi, former manager of the Elephants.

Via eTaiwanNews:

Brother Elephants star outfielder Chen Chih-yuan and former La New Bears pitcher Chang Chih-chia could face two years in prison after prosecutors announced a list of 24 indictments in Taiwan’s most recent baseball game-fixing scandal Wednesday.

After the announcement, the Elephants expelled Chen from the team, reports said. The player said he would file an appeal if he was convicted.

*snip*

In a related development, the La New Bears team was reportedly suing 13 players for a total of over NT$100 million in compensation, including NT$4.56 million from Chang.

An update via Reuters:

Taiwan has pledged to inject T$2 billion ($60 million) of government funding into baseball to help revive a sport marred by betting scandals and embarrassing international defeats, the presidential office said on Saturday.

...Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau said it logged 102 illegal baseball betting cases involving 222 people in 2008 and the local Chinese Professional Baseball League has lost 45 percent of its stadium attendance over the past five years.