Tokyo prosecutors on Thursday arrested former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mito Kakizawa for allegedly giving bribes to assembly members in Tokyo’s Koto Ward to garner support for a candidate in the Koto mayoral election.
Four secretaries of Kakizawa, 52, were also arrested for their involvement in the bribery case.
Investigators suspect Kakizawa handed ¥200,000 in cash to LDP assembly members before the election in hopes of getting Yayoi Kimura elected. He is also suspected of offering ¥200,000 to a former assembly member involved in the election campaign for Kimura as an “advisory fee,” and a total of some ¥900,000 to about 10 election staff.
Kakizawa has reportedly denied the charges, saying he did not intend to bribe the assembly members with the cash. But some of those who received the money have told investigators that they thought it was bribery.
Kimura, 58, the mayoral candidate backed by Kakizawa, won the election in April, but she resigned in November amid allegations that she and her campaign staff posted a paid advertisement on YouTube calling for people to vote for her, in violation of the election law.
Kakizawa is suspected of proposing the YouTube ad to Kimura and her staff in the first place. As investigators looked into the case, allegations that Kakizawa was also involved in bribery began to surface.
The Lower House member resigned as deputy justice minister in October over the YouTube ad. Kakizawa also left the LDP earlier this month after prosecutors raided his office in the Nagatacho district in Tokyo, but he remains a lawmaker.
Information from Kyodo and Jiji added