Guilty on Kickback Scandal

A member of the Diet was found guilty on receiving kickback fund from a faction in the Liberal Democratic Party for the first time. Tokyo District Court sentenced on June 23rd 600 thousand yen of fine to former member of the House of Councillors, Yasumasa Ono, for his failure in reporting political fund from former Abe faction. The court found Ono guilty for the fund in 2022 and evidence of the rest of kickback fund was regarded as insufficient. The whole structure of kickback fund scandal has not illuminated. 

The LDP found that 85 of its lawmakers, who were affiliated with factions of Abe or Nikai, received 579 million yen of kickback fund, which was the sales of ticket for fundraising parties, from their factions between 2018 and 2022. The party punished 39 lawmakers who received large amount of fund. Ono, with other two lawmakers, left the party before he would be punished. He reportedly received 51.54 million yen from Abe faction and failed to report it.

 

Ono became the first defendant in a trial among the lawmakers in the kickback fund scandal who was sentenced by the court. Although Ono argued that he was innocent, the court fined 600 thousand yen for failing in reporting kickback fund. While Ono explained that he simply kept the fund for a while, the court recognized it as donation from the faction, which needed to be reported as political fund. The court also fined 200 thousand yen on Ono’s secretary as an accomplice.

 

The court found Ono’s illegality only for the fund received in 2022. The amount of false reporting was 11.2 million yen in 2022 out of whole 51.54 million yen for five years between 2018 and 2022. The court realized that the kickback fund between 2018 and 2021 was at the office of Ono but Ono might not recognize it as necessary to report as a political fund. Because the faction instructed Ono how to report the fund in 2022, the failure in reporting it in 2022 was illegal.

 

However, failure in reporting political fund caused broad skepticisms on managing money by lawmakers, factions and parties. The court found that the scandal harmed the law for controlling political fund, damaged public image on politics. Ono considers whether he would appeal to the higher court or not.

 

It is basically the lawmakers or parties that are responsible for rebuilding public confidence on politics. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has her allies in former Abe faction, appointed some leaders who had been involved in the scandal to some high position of the LDP. LDP’s coalition partner, Japan Innovation Party, postponed tightening regulation of political fund to next year, slowing down momentum for political reform in the Diet. The LDP is slowly getting back to the party before the kickback scandal, which caused abolition of most factions.

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