Japan ruling party lawmaker Ikeda arrested over slush fund scandal that has battered support for PM
- Prosecutors suspect Yoshitaka Ikeda received 48.26 million yen over five years from funds created by a faction led by late prime minister Shinzo Abe
- The arrest is the first in a fundraising scandal that is the biggest to engulf Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party in decades
A lawmaker from the largest faction within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party was arrested on Sunday over allegations linked to a political fundraising scandal that has engulfed the party.
Prosecutors suspect Yoshitaka Ikeda, a member of the House of Representatives, received a total of 48.26 million yen (HK$2.6 million) over five years through 2022 from slush funds created by the faction formerly led by late prime minister Shinzo Abe.
The arrest was the first in a scandal that has battered support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and is the biggest fundraising controversy to engulf Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in decades.
The scandal last month forced the resignations of Abe faction heavyweights Hirokazu Matsuno as Kishida’s chief cabinet secretary, Yasutoshi Nishimura as trade and industry minister, and Koichi Hagiuda as LDP policy chief.
The three have not commented on media reports about their involvement.
Ikeda’s policy secretary, Kazuhiro Kakinuma, 45, was also arrested on Sunday. The two are accused of having failed to declare the money Ikeda received in political fundraising reports.
Prosecutors decided to arrest the 57-year-old Ikeda on grounds that he could conceal or destroy evidence.