Local LDP Also Has Fund Scandal

The Special Investigation Division of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office made summery indictment against an accounting manager of Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly with charge of failing in reporting its 35 million yen of political fund which was raised through fundraising parties. That local branch of the leading party has reportedly been committed illegal management of political fund as same as the lawmakers with former Abe faction were involved in. The organization decided to dissolve itself.

The management done by LDP Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, a group of the assembly members who are affiliated to the LDP, had exactly the same structure as what the national party did. The organization set a quota of ticket sales for each member, which was selling fifty tickets worth one million yen. If a member sold more than fifty tickets, the surplus brought by the sales will effectively be income of the member. The member did not report the amount of the surplus to the office of LDP Tokyo. The surplus became a secret fund.

 

The accounting manager did not record the missing income, which was kept by the members, to its political funds report in 2019 and 2022. The amount was less than what it should be by 35 million yen. In addition, the manager did not record 28 million yen the missing spendings, which should have been recorded as the money distributed to its members. The total amount of missing fund was 63 million yen.

 

Tokyo Shimbun reported the details of how the secret fund was created. White bags were placed on the table in a room for LDP in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly one day in October 2019. One of the leaders of the group explained that one hundred tickets, which was worth two million yen, was packed in a bag and demanded the members to pay one million yen as sales of fifty tickets to the office.

 

If a member would sell beyond one hundred, the income might have been divided in two between the member and LDP. The tickets would have been bought by local supporters of the members. The leader insisted that the rest of the income would be at their disposal. Although the members were aware of the illegality of ticket sales, no one resisted the exercise of fundraising in the LDP.

 

The group decided to dissolve it as a registered political organization, while it remains as a group in the assembly. Without registration as a political organization, the LDP Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly cannot have any fundraising party. The scandal may affect the election of the assembly members scheduled in this summer.

 

The scandal revealed hidden structure of inappropriate management in local organization of the leading party in Japan. The opposition parties in the Diet accused the LDP of endless scandals over political funds. In spite of efforts for introducing transparency of political funds by Shigeru Ishiba administration, this scandal in the local entity may have negative impact on the LDP in the Upper House election this summer.