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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Livedoor's Horie arrested

President Horie Takafumi and three other executives of Internet firm Livedoor Co. was arrested on January 23 on suspicion of violating the Securities and Exchange Law, signaling the beginning of a major investigation into the scandal involving "alchemy" a la Horie doing whatever he can to raise stock prices.

Horie and three other Livedoor executives are suspected of providing false information about a corporate buyout as well as padding sales and profits in Livedoor's financial statement.

When Horie ran for the House of Representatives as an independent candidate last September, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro said, "I realized that we've entered a phase of major change. I'd like to send cheers to him." Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Takebe Tsutomu and Minister of Economic and Fiscal Policy Takenaka Heizo supported Horie's election campaign.

In a statement published on the same day, Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira pointed out that the Livedoor-related issue has raised questions on the "structural reform" promoted by the Koizumi Cabinet.

Koike criticized the Koizumi Cabinet for encouraging money games through easing various regulations instead of establishing systems to protect individual investors and monitor illegal trades. He also condemned the LDP for making the best use of Horie's name in the general election by praising him as "winner of the structural reform."

He stated that the JCP will seek to hold the Koizumi Cabinet and the LDP responsible for the scandal.
- Akahata, January 24, 2006