The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun

Abe, Nikai group offices raided over unreported funds scandal

The special investigat­ive squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor­s Office on Dec. 19 raided offices of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Abe and Nikai factions in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, over allegation­s that they created hidden funds with cash generated by political fundraisin­g parties.

The allegation­s, which would constitute violations of the Political Funds Control Law, have led to the replacemen­t of key Cabinet ministers. They have also developed into two criminal cases involving the 99-member Abe faction and the 40-member Nikai faction.

The two factions are suspected of falsely reporting, or not reporting at all, income and expenditur­es on political funds reports. Prosecutor­s deemed it necessary to raid their offices to seize relevant documents, suspecting that the alleged wrongdoing was conducted on a systematic, repeated basis.

According to sources, the largest Abe faction — also known as Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai — provided its members with cash equaling the amounts by which they had exceeded their quota for party ticket sales, but neither the faction nor the members included the cash in their political funds reports.

The kickbacks are estimated to have totaled ¥500 million over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, a time for which the statute of limitation­s does not apply.

The faction’s treasurer admitted to the special investigat­ive squad during voluntary questionin­g that they did not include the amounts in reports and also explained how kickbacks were paid out. The treasurer is said to have asked the faction members not to report the cash, prompting the prosecutor­s to suspect the faction took the initiative in the wrongdoing.

Dozens of Abe faction members are suspected of receiving hidden funds, including former Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Minister Ryu Shionoya, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister

Yasutoshi Nishimura, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairperso­n Tsuyoshi Takagi, LDP House of Councillor­s Secretary General Hiroshige Seko and LDP Policy Research Council Chairperso­n Koichi Hagiuda.

The Nikai faction — also known as Shisuikai — is the party’s fifth-largest. It is suspected of having reported at least ¥100 million less in fundraisin­g party income than was actually garnered over a five-year period.

As with the Abe faction, the Nikai faction had paid kickbacks to its members, but the money was reported in the faction’s expenditur­es and as part of the members’ incomes. The faction’s treasurer is suspected of having intentiona­lly excluded a portion of the fundraisin­g

party income from the total, and that part may have become hidden funds within the faction.

Prosecutor­s have been questionin­g Abe faction members who received large kickbacks. They will analyze the seized documents to confirm the circumstan­ces,

the process by which the money was not reported, and who was involved.

ABE, NIKAI FACTIONS APOLOGIZE

The Abe and Nikai factions issued a statement of apology on Dec. 19 as prosecutor­s searched their offices.

“We heartily apologize for impairing trust toward politics. We will take the matter seriously and cooperate to the fullest with investigat­ive authoritie­s,” the Abe faction’s statement said.

Former LDP Secretary General

Toshihiro Nikai, who leads the Nikai faction, said in a comment issued on the day that “our secretaria­t and members will provide serious cooperatio­n to requests from investigat­ive authoritie­s, and work to resolve the issue.” (Dec. 20)