LDP Upper House leader received 20 million yen in donations from member firms of organization involved in bid-rigging scandal

   A Liberal Democratic Party branch headed by Aoki Mikio, LDP House of Councilors members general assembly chair, received more than 20 million yen in political donations from member firms of the Designated Forests Local Council, an organization consisting of construction companies and consultant firms that were awarded contracts by the Japan Green Resources Agency, an independent administrative agency, in the midst of bureaucracy-led bid-rigging scandals, according to Akahata.

   Aoki’s branch in his constituency (Shimane Pref.) received a total of 21.5 million yen in three years from 2003 from 12 corporations belonging to Matsue Region Designated Forests Local Council.

   In addition to this, Aoki directly received from the Designated Forests Local Council 1.3 million yen in the same period.

   The Green Resources Agency has been carrying out 12 billion yen-construction project covering 3,080 hectares of land in Shimane Prefecture.

   Yamazaki Shin’ichi, who was regarded as a key person in the bid-riggings and committed suicide following former Agriculture Minister Matsuoka Toshikatsu, served as vice-chair of the Designated Forests Local Council.

- Akahata, June 14, 2007