Ruling party lawmaker Ikeda arrested over slush fund scandal that shattered support for prime minister

The three have not commented on media reports about their involvement.

Mr. Ikeda’s policy secretary, Kazuhiro Kakinuma (45), was also arrested on Sunday. The two men are suspected of failing to declare the funds received by Mr. Ikeda in their political fundraising reports.

In Japan, prosecutors question ruling Liberal Democratic Party member over fundraising scandal

Prosecutors decided to arrest 57-year-old Ikeda, citing the risk of destruction or destruction of evidence.

Prosecutors determined that the four-term lawmaker conspired with Kakinuma, who was in charge of preparing the income and expenditure report.

Prosecutors say the Abe faction is suspected of failing to report up to 500 million yen in funds over a five-year period, while a smaller faction led by former Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general Toshihiro Nikai appears to have failed to report 100 million yen. reported.

According to media reports, prosecutors are investigating whether other factions of the Liberal Democratic Party, including the faction previously led by Kishida, were involved in the scandal. The prime minister said, “To restore public trust, we will consider appropriate measures at the appropriate time.”

According to media opinion polls, his approval rating had fallen to around 20% as of mid-December, the lowest for a prime minister in more than a decade.

The focus of the investigation was money raised through ticket sales for party events, and although some of the money was required to be reported under the Political Funds Control Act, it is said to have been passed directly from the party to members of the party and not recorded in the ledgers. .

According to sources, the amount is believed to be approximately 500 million yen over the five years until 2022, when the statute of limitations under the Political Funds Control Act has not yet expired.

Accountants are required by law to submit income and expenditure reports, and failure to do so is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 1 million yen.

Lawmakers could be charged with committing a crime if they are believed to have colluded with their accountants. Kakinuma will be in charge of interviewing Ikeda.

Several pro-Abe politicians are suspected of embezzling a portion of the proceeds they collected from party ticket sales in excess of their quota, with the total amount reportedly amounting to at least 80 million yen.

More than half of the 99 members of Abe’s pro-Abe group, Seiwaken (Seiwa Policy Research Group), are suspected of receiving funds, but Ikeda received significantly more than other members, the people involved added.

Following Ikeda’s arrest, the group apologized and announced that it would cooperate with the investigation.

Prosecutors searched the offices of Abe and Ikeda and collected documents related to the allegations.

Prosecutors appear to have been aware of the flow of funds within the faction, and are investigating the involvement of executives who served as the faction’s secretary-general.

Currently, Takeshi Takagi, former chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s national relations committee, is the faction’s secretary-general, and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Fumi Matsuno and former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura also served as secretary-general of the faction.

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All questions were asked on a voluntary basis.

Prosecutors are also investigating the Nikai faction, and are said to be conducting voluntary interviews with party leaders regarding similar funding suspicions.

The slush funds scandal came to light following criminal charges that five factions of the Liberal Democratic Party, including the fourth-largest faction led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida until early December, underreported income from political fundraising parties.

Each faction of the Liberal Democratic Party has traditionally set quotas for members to sell party tickets, which usually cost 20,000 yen. For some groups, if lawmakers exceed their goals, the additional funds are returned to them as a type of fee.