In Japan, prosecutors probe ruling LDP lawmakers over fundraising scandal

Several dozen LDP lawmakers face questioning amid allegations the group failed to declare fundraising party revenue in political funding reports

The scandal has already rocked Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government, resulting in the replacement of all four ministers in the LDP’s largest faction

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida leaves after a press conference in Tokyo. The scandal has already rocked Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government, resulting in the replacement of all four ministers belonging to the LDP’s largest faction. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:53pm, 16 Dec 2023

Prosecutors have started questioning Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers on a voluntary basis in connection with a political fund scandal involving the LDP’s largest faction, sources familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Several dozen lawmakers of the faction are targeted for questioning amid allegations that the group failed to declare hundreds of millions of yen of fundraising party revenue in political funding reports.

The scandal has already rocked Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government, resulting in the replacement of all four ministers belonging to the LDP’s largest faction, and could also deliver a further blow to the ruling party depending on how the investigation proceeds.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s special investigation squad is looking into the case as a possible violation of the political funds control law.

The scandal emerged following a criminal complaint alleging five LDP factions underreported revenue from political fundraising parties. They include the faction Kishida belongs to, which is the fourth largest.

LDP factions have traditionally set quotas for lawmakers on the sale of party tickets, usually priced at 20,000 yen (US$141). In some groups, if they surpass their targets, the extra funds have been passed back to them as a type of commission.

In the LDP’s biggest faction, which former prime minister Shinzo Abe led until his assassination in July 2022, the extra funds had neither been reported as expenditure nor as payments to lawmakers.