Lawmaker Suspected of Fraud over Secretary’s Salary

The Special Investigation Division of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office made search on the offices of a member of the House of Councillors with the Liberal Democratic Party, Megumi Hirose, with suspicion of fraudulent receiving of salary for her staff. As seen in the slush fund scandal, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had exercised no leadership to prevent a scandal related to management of money in politics. 

Hirose was elected from Iwate prefectural district in 2022. Weekly Shincho reported in March that one of the secretaries of Hirose had been receiving salary without any record of working as a staff of Hirose. Hirose argued in her webpage that the article was totally baseless and her secretary actually worked for her in her office in Morioka, Iwate, or was doing the job at home.

 

Article 132 of the Diet Act allows every lawmaker has three secretaries, the first secretary, the second and another for assisting policy making. A law for secretaries of the Diet members determines that each secretary would receive salary from national budget.

 

According to a news report, the second secretary of Hirose worked for her from December 2022 to August 2023. The secretary was a wife of Hirose’s first secretary, and worked in a real estate firm in Tono city, Iwate. The law for secretary’s salary basically prohibits a secretary to have another job, with exception of having registration for that. It is estimated that some million yen has been paid as salary for the second secretary. Hirose left the LDP right after the public prosecutors made search on her offices.

 

It is also doubted that the second secretary had actually been receiving the salary every month. Another news reportrevealed that the prosecutors have obtained evidence of Hirose redeeming her second secretary’s salary from a bank account. If it was found true, Hirose has not only been let the Diet pay for her secretary who had not worked her, but keeping her secretary’s salary for herself.

 

Shincho also reported Hirose’s inappropriate relationship with a Canadian saxophone player. Hirose is one of the female LDP lawmakers who visited France last year, posted their photos in front of the Eiffel Tower, and received public criticisms that they were enjoying foreign travel with public money. Some opposition leaders demanded Hirose’s resignation as a lawmaker.

 

There are multiple examples of fraud on lawmaker’s secretary’s salary. The lawmakers were arrested in some of those cases. Although the party leaders could warn their lawmakers to properly deal with secretary’s salary, Kishida could not prevent another case happens in his party on his watch. Kishida has not responded to the suspicion on Hirose so far.

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