A lawmaker formerly of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was indicted Friday for his alleged failure to report millions of yen in connection with a political fundraising scandal that has rocked the LDP led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
House of Representatives member Yoshitaka Ikeda. (Kyodo)
The indictment of House of Representatives member Yoshitaka Ikeda, 57, came amid a series of criminal cases being built against lawmakers and accountants over the violation of the political funds control law. His secretary Kazuhiro Kakinuma, 45, was also indicted.
Ikeda belonged to the LDP’s largest faction, whose undeclared funds are suspected to have totaled roughly 600 million yen ($4 million) in the five years from 2018.
He has allegedly received around 48 million yen from the faction’s slush funds and colluded with his secretary to write down false revenue figures in the political funds reports of his fund-management body.
Ikeda, a former senior vice education minister, was arrested in January, with Tokyo prosecutors saying the action was taken out of fear that he could attempt to destroy evidence.
A source familiar with the matter said a computer at Ikeda’s office was found to have been destroyed, possibly with a screwdriver.
At question in the scandal are funds raised by lawmakers for selling tickets for faction events beyond their assigned quotas. Such excess funds have allegedly not been reported, and distributed to the lawmakers.
While many who were in the LDP’s largest faction formerly led by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are suspected to have received the funds, the prosecutors took aim at those who gained hefty sums.
The Political Funds Control Act requires an accountant to submit a report on income and expenditures, and a failure to report can be punishable by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 1 million yen. Lawmakers could also face criminal charges if suspected of colluding with accountants.
After the scandal emerged late last year, two other lawmakers of the Abe faction, as well as former and incumbent accountants of three factions including the Abe faction and Kishida faction, faced indictments without arrest or summary indictments.
The prosecutors, however, have not built cases against senior members of the Abe faction due to a lack of evidence of collusion.
The Kishida and Abe factions are among the LDP’s intraparty groups that have decided to disband in the wake of the scandal.
Related coverage:
Prosecutors indict several LDP faction members over funds scandal
Prosecutors to build case on Kishida faction over LDP funds scandal
Japan ruling party lawmaker Ikeda arrested over slush fund scandal
