Yoshimi Watanabe, who headed the opposition Your Party until he was forced to resign in April over a loans scandal, has been questioned by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.
Watanabe, 62, who lost his seat in last Sunday's lower house election, has admitted to receiving two loans totaling about 800 million yen from cosmetics company DHC Corp before elections in 2010 and 2012.
Watanabe said that he borrowed the money for personal reasons and that he had not violated the public office election law which requires all political funds to be reported.
Prosecutors questioned Watanabe on Friday on a voluntary basis, TBS reported Saturday, and his office issued a statement saying that he had not violated the law.
Reports surfaced in March that Watanabe received the funds from DHC Chairman Yoshiaki Yoshida. He received 300 million yen before the House of Councillors election in 2010 and another 500 million yen before the House of Representatives election in 2012.
Yoshida said that Watanabe has yet to pay back 500 million yen.
© Japan Today
6 Comments
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khulifi
All of them they do the same but in professional way to avoid detection. They got money from banks , construction companies , trading houses , insurance companies etc ....
Gobshite
There never was any intention to repay these "loans" ........ until he got caught. Too bad he spent some of it.
wildwest
So the rich get richer and the poor cant run for election, that's democratic.
StormR
Of course we all get our 100's of million yen loans form a cosmetic company why wouldn't we.
Again, keep digging, all these crooks are dirty, they all have had some fingers in the cookie jar, its just the way they describe it that is trying to cover up the corruption.
Crooks = Politicians
Loans = Bribes
Corruption = Right of Passage
Just learn the coded language
sensei258
"Loans" are a popular way for Yakuza to make money. They "qualify" for loans for which they have no intention of paying. Everyday folk like us suffer the financial consequences.