Japan Press Weekly

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2014 January 8 - 14 [TOKYO]

Prosecutors accept complaint on former Tokyo governor’s money scandal

Investigations are expected to go into full swing on former Tokyo Governor Inose Naoki’s money scandal as the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office on January 7 accepted a complaint against him filed by citizens.

Lodged by a civic ombudsman group on December 8, the complaint argues that Inose received 50 million yen in illegal political donations from hospital operator Tokushukai in November 2012, immediately prior to his gubernatorial election.

This action could violate the Public Offices Election Law as well as the Political Funds Control Law, it points out.

After the allegation was revealed in November last year, Inose repeatedly explained that the 50 million yen was a “personal loan”. He announced his resignation as governor on December 19, the day after the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly decided to appoint a special committee to investigate the money scandal as proposed by the Japanese Communist Party.

Kamiwaki Hiroshi, the civic group’s representative and professor at Kobe Gakuin University, said that he hopes for a full-fledged investigation to reveal the whole picture of Tokushukai-related bribery acts that could involve not only Inose but also his predecessor Ishihara Shintaro.

Past related materials:
> JCP works to grill Tokyo governor about money scandal (December 20, 2013)
> Civic ombudsman group accuses Tokyo governor of receiving illegal money (December 10, 2013)