Prosecutors believe that condolence money paid out by lawmaker Manabu Horii to constituents likely came from slush funds of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Abe faction, sources said.
On July 18, members of the investigative squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office searched the LDP lawmaker’s offices and residence.
Horii’s secretaries are believed to have given sums ranging from 10,000 yen ($63.50) to several times that around 2022 when one of his supporters or their family members died, sources said.
In total, several hundred thousand yen was given.
Horii’s former secretaries told prosecutors in meetings on a voluntary basis that they “handed over the condolence money at his order.”
The Public Offices Election Law prohibits politicians from giving money or other gifts to constituents. Exceptions include when a politician attends a funeral and hands the money over directly to the bereaved.
The special investigation department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office will also meet with Horii on a voluntary basis.
The investigators are seeking to indict the lawmaker based on the analysis of confiscated materials and statements from Horii.
Horii, 52, is a former member of the LDP’s Abe faction, a grouping that was under fire recently amid the wide-ranging slush fund scandal.
Horii received a total of 21.9 million yen in cash from the faction. He did not declare the money in his political fund reports.
In January, Horii told reporters that he used the slush funds from the Abe faction for “attending the meetings of his supporters” and other expenses, explaining that “necessary costs increased” for activities with constituents.
The investigative squad recognized the existence of condolence money payments when they were investigating the illicit slush funds and also noticed that they were possibly used for that purpose.
The recognition prompted prosecutors to conduct the search of Horii’s offices and apartment.
