Saturday 01st August, 04:59 AM JSTTOKYO —
Prosecutors Friday decided not to indict a secretary to Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai for a second time in a political donation case involving contractor Nishimatsu Construction Co. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office cited a lack of evidence for a link between the secretary, whose name has been withheld, and a third-party purchase of 3.4 million yen worth of fundraising party tickets for a Liberal Democratic Party faction led by Nikai.
The office has filed a criminal charge on a former Nishimatsu president, Mikio Kunisawa, for making donations through the company’s dummy organizations in violation of the political funds control law. Prosecutors said in the latest decision that they did not discover any evidence or facts that the secretary conspired with Kunisawa. Kunisawa has been convicted separately of giving 5 million yen in illegal donations to the fund-managing body and local party branch offices of former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa. On July 17, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Kunisawa to 16 months in jail, suspended for three years, for the charge.
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