Yomiuri report… I will check the slush fund amount, etc.
The Tokyo District Prosecutors’ Office, which is investigating allegations of slush funds for the Seiwa Policy Research Group of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Abe faction (99 members), will focus on ‘random hearings (investigations)’ of some of the Abe faction’s members early next week. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 16th.
The newspaper reported this, citing an official. Focusing on lawmakers who received slush funds, we plan to check the circumstances and awareness of why the slush funds were not recorded in the political fund balance report, such as the amount of slush funds and how they were used.
In particular, the newspaper reported that the number of lawmakers subject to investigation is expected to reach dozens.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors’ Office’s special department, with a staff of about 50, has been investigating Abe faction accountants and Abe faction member secretaries.
The Special Department was prepared to directly investigate lawmakers as the extraordinary National Assembly closed on the 13th.
There are more than 10 lawmakers with slush funds exceeding 10 million yen (about 92 million won), including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and former Liberal Democratic Party National Assembly Countermeasures Committee Chairman Tsuyoshi Takagi, who has experience as secretary general of the Abe faction. The newspaper reported.
Currently, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors’ Office’s special department is looking into suspicions of non-disclosure or false information in the income and expenditure report regarding the political funds of five factions of the Liberal Democratic Party, including the Abe faction.
Lawmakers belonging to the Abe faction are accused of failing to record the amount exceeding the quota for selling ‘party tickets’ for political fundraising in the political fund balance report, and instead taking back the money they raised and using it as a slush fund.
Japan’s Political Fund Regulation Act stipulates that organizations that have purchased party tickets worth more than 200,000 yen (approximately 1.7 million won) must be listed in the balance of payments report. Failure to fill out the information will result in imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 1 million yen. If a conspiracy is established, people other than the accounting manager can be held guilty.
The Special Department is focusing on the fact that the Abe faction’s defunding was carried out systematically and led by the faction. We plan to initiate a mandatory investigation into the Abe faction on charges of violating the Political Fund Regulation Act. The person in charge of accounting for the Abe faction is also considering a plan to book the case.
The size of Abepa’s slush fund is estimated to be a total of 500 million yen (about 4.55 billion won) over the five years from 2018 to 2022. The amount not recorded in the balance of payments report may exceed 1 billion yen (approximately 9.1 billion won).
In addition to the Abe faction, the Special Department includes the Nikai faction (40 members) ‘Shisui Kai (志帥?)’ and the Kishida faction (46 members) headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (岸田文雄) ‘Hiroike (宏池) Policy Research Group.’ It is also believed that the party’s income is listed in the budget report as less than the actual amount. The Nikai faction is worth 100 million yen, and the Kishida faction is worth tens of millions of yen. The investigation into them is continuing.
Source: Donga
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