Struggling online gambling operator 500.com’s woes continue to mount on fresh political bribery allegations in Japan and a warning from New York financial regulators.

On Tuesday, Japanese media reported that a second member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had admitted receiving cash and favors from 500.com during a visit to the company’s Shenzhen headquarters and later to a Macau casino as 500.com’s guest.

Takaki Shirasuka admitted accepting ¥1m (US$9,300) in cash as well as allowing 500.com to buy his gambling chips at the unspecified casino. Shirasuka’s office issued a statement saying that the lawmaker believed “none of his actions constitute anything illegal.”

Incredibly, public prosecutors don’t intend to file criminal charges against Shirasuka (pictured), based on their view that, while he was a member of a cross-party group of legislators promoting Japan’s push to establish a domestic casino industry, he had no influence over which companies will receive the three initial licenses up for grabs.