Japan ruling party lawmaker Ikeda arrested over slush fund scandal that has battered support for PM

The three have not commented on media reports about their involvement.

Ikeda’s policy secretary, Kazuhiro Kakinuma, 45, was also arrested on Sunday. The two are accused of having failed to declare the money Ikeda received in political fundraising reports.

In Japan, prosecutors question ruling LDP lawmakers over fundraising scandal

Prosecutors decided to arrest the 57-year-old Ikeda on grounds that he could conceal or destroy evidence.

The prosecutors have determined that the fourth-term lawmaker colluded with Kakinuma, who was in charge of creating a report on income and expenditure.

Prosecutors suspect the Abe faction failed to report as much as 500 million yen in funds over five years, while a smaller faction headed by former LDP secretary general Toshihiro Nikai was believed to have not reported 100 million yen, NHK has reported.

Media reports have said prosecutors were examining whether other LDP factions, including the one Kishida previously headed, were involved in the scandal. The prime minister has vowed to “consider appropriate measures at the right time to restore public trust”.

His support had sunk to around 20 per cent in mid-December in media public opinion surveys, the lowest for any prime minister in more than a decade.

The investigation centres on money raised from ticket sales to party events, some of which was allegedly given directly to lawmakers by the party and left off the books, despite requirements to report such payments under the Political Funds Control Act.

The amount is believed to have totalled about 500 million yen over a five-year period through 2022, for which the statute of limitations has not expired under the political funds control law, the sources said.

The law requires an accountant to submit a report on income and expenditure, and failure to report can result in imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to one million yen.

Lawmakers can be accused of committing a crime when they are thought to have colluded with an accountant in charge. Kakinuma is responsible for Ikeda’s reporting.

Several Abe faction lawmakers are alleged to have pocketed a portion of the revenue they collected through the sale of party tickets above their quotas, with the total sum reaching at least 80 million yen over the period, the sources said.

In the Abe faction, called Seiwaken, or the Seiwa policy study group, the majority of its 99 members are suspected of having received funds, but Ikeda allegedly took significantly more than others, the sources added.

Following the arrest of Ikeda, the faction has issued an apology and said it would cooperate with the investigation.

The prosecutors searched the offices of the Abe faction and Ikeda to collect documents and other materials related to the allegations.

The prosecutors are investigating the involvement of senior lawmakers, including some who served as the faction’s secretary general, as they are believed to have known the flow of money within the group.

Former LDP Diet affairs chief Tsuyoshi Takagi is currently the faction’s Secretary General, while former chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and former trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura previously took on the job.

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All have been questioned on a voluntary basis.

The prosecutors are also investigating the Nikai faction and are questioning the party heavyweight on a voluntary basis over similar funds allegations, the sources said.

The slush fund scandal emerged following a criminal complaint alleging five LDP factions, including the fourth-largest one that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida headed until early December, under-reported revenue from political fundraising parties.

LDP factions have traditionally set quotas for lawmakers on the sale of party tickets, usually priced at 20,000 yen. In some groups, if lawmakers surpass their targets, the extra funds are passed back to them as a type of commission.