Constructors have succumbed to pressure from Ozawa’s aide to give donations

Japan Press Weekly

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Constructors have succumbed to pressure from Ozawa’s aide to give donations

“What? Are you backpedaling?” This is what Okubo Takanori, DPJ Ozawa Ichiro’s close aide, yelled at a vice manager of Shimizu Corporation Tohoku Branch. It happened when the vice manager of this major general contractor construction company asked Okubo if the company could reduce the amount of its political donations to the Ozawa office.

Okubo is charged with receiving illegal donations from Nishimatsu Construction Co., Ltd.

On December 18, his first trial took place at the Tokyo District Court, and the prosecutors revealed in their opening statement how construction companies were threatened if they did not give donations to Ozawa’s fund.

Taisei Corporation, another major general contractor, clashed with the Ozawa office in 2002 over the purchase of an office building in Tokyo. Okubo angrily said, “I won’t let Taisei into the backroom (code word for bid-rigging),” hinting that he would not award any public works contracts to Taisei. In the same year, in fact, Taisei could not win even a single order for public works projects in Iwate Prefecture, Ozawa’s home prefecture.

The next year, Okubo said to the incoming vice manager of the Taisei Tohoku Branch, “If you are willing to contribute 20 million yen a year, you may return to the ring (bid-rigging).” The suspect demanded that Taisei make four times more in political donations than that paid in the past.

Other than Shimizu and Taisei, according to the prosecutors, Obayashi Corporation and Tekken Corporation also bowed to unreasonable demands from Okubo.

With his source of power coming from the political heavyweight, Okubo used his status as Ozawa’s first secretary to have a decisive influence on the selection of winners in bids for public works projects in Tohoku, Ozawa’s constituency.

Receiving petitions from each construction company, Okubo allegedly gave favors to particular companies for particular public works projects. A person from Kajima Corporation reportedly played a facilitating role in the bid-rigging.

The Ozawa aide asked each general contractor construction company for several millions of yen up to 20 million yen a year in financial support for Ozawa-related elections.

Persons from general contractor construction companies said that they could not disregard Ozawa’s influence on public works projects in the Tohoku region.

About this allegation, Ozawa himself must be held accountable.

- Akahata, December 19, 2009