Japanese lawmaker becomes first arrested in political fund scandal

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation department announced on Sunday that they have arrested a lower house member Yoshitaka Ikeda on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Act.

This marks the first arrest in the connection of a series of incidents, in which it is alleged that the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, once headed by Shinzo Abe, the late former prime minister of Japan, covertly used a portion of its political party income as a slush fund.

Prosecutors also arrested Ikeda's policy secretary, Kazuhiro Kakinuma, who oversees accounting of the political fund management organization, Ikeda Reimei-kai.

Prosecutors suspect Ikeda, a 57-year-old lower house member affiliated with the Abe faction of the LDP, failed to disclose 48.26 million yen ($333,750) in party sales revenue which were received as kickbacks from the faction between 2018 and 2022 in conspiracy with Kakinuma. The money was recorded as donation income instead, The Asahi Shimbun, a national daily newspaper in Japan, reported.

The LDP decided to expel Ikeda following his arrest.

"It is a matter of great regret and I take it very seriously," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Sunday. "The party must work with a strong sense of crisis to restore trust in politics."

In response to calls from various parties for an amendment to the Political Funds Control Act, Kishida said concrete measures must be effective. From that perspective, he would like to deepen the discussion and determine what should be done for the restoration of public trust, Kishida said.

It is alleged that lawmakers affiliated with the Abe faction funneled funds exceeding the sales quota for party tickets back to the politicians as slush funds. This entire flow of funds was not recorded in the faction's or the members' financial statements.

An estimated total of around 500 million yen of revenues from the Abe faction's fund-raising parties is suspected of having been kept off the books between 2018 and 2022.

Among these funds, the 48.26 million yen received by Ikeda is believed to be the second-highest among the faction's members. Prosecutors have conducted voluntary hearings with Ikeda and Kakinuma. Additionally, searches were conducted at Ikeda's Tokyo and Nagoya offices on Dec 27, The Asahi Shimbun reported.

Ikeda was first elected to the House of Representatives, Japan's lower house, in 2012. He won his fourth term in 2021 through proportional representation to represent the Tokai bloc.

jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn