Politicians stained with dark money

Akahata has found that the Japan Dentists Federation (JDF), the political action committee of the Japan Dental Association, has donated money to 76.8 percent of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers between 2000 and 2002.

Former chief of the JDF Usuda Sadao has been arrested and indicted for bribery.

Akahata on July 18 reported that 189 incumbent LDP Dietmembers of the House of Representatives (three-forths of LDP legislators in the Upper House), including Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro and LDP Secretary General Abe Shinzo, had accepted the donations. In addition, 52 LDP members in the Lower House had also received the donations.

Nine Komei Party lawmakers, including its Secretary General Fuyushiba Tetsuzo, and 13 Democratic Party of Japan representatives, including its Secretary General Fujii Hirohisa, had also taken donations from the JDF, the largest donor to the LDP.

The total amount of money the JDF gave to these politicians was about 2.74 billion yen.

At that time, the JDF was trying to put pressures on politicians and bureaucrats to revise regulations concerning medical service fees.

It was also discovered that suspect Usuda Sadao, former JDA chairman, and suspect Uchida Hirotake, former JDA director, had handed a check of 100 million yen to former prime minister Hashimoto Ryutaro before the 2001 House of Councilors election at an exclusive Japanese restaurant in Tokyo with former LDP secretary general Nonaka Hiromu and LDP secretary-general for Upper House lawmakers Aoki Mikio present.

However, Aoki told reporters that he does not remember that meeting. (end)