Welfare ministry raided over bureau chief's involvement in postal fraud

Monday 15th June, 09:13 AM JST

OSAKA —

Prosecutors searched the welfare ministry Monday, a day after a senior ministry official was arrested for her alleged involvement in abusing a mail discount system for the handicapped.

The special investigation squad of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office entered the ministry to search the office of Atsuko Muraki, 53, director general of the ministry’s Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau. Her house in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, was also searched earlier in the day.

She was arrested on suspicion of issuing a fabricated certificate to recognize an organization as a group for the handicapped, thus enabling it to use the mail discount system.

The group, which does not qualify as a group for the disabled, helped several companies send direct mail using the discount system to save on postal fees.

This is the second time prosecutors have searched the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry for evidence of ministry officials’ involvement in the case, which also led to the arrest of a ministry section chief in May.

According to investigative sources, the prosecutors are investigating whether there was pressure from a politician to recognize the group, formerly called Rin-no-kai and currently known as Hakusan-kai, as an organization for the handicapped.

Muraki’s former boss has said that a Diet member asked around February 2004 for the issuance of a certificate to designate the group as an organization for handicapped people, the sources said.

On Sunday, a fresh arrest warrant was served on Tsutomu Kamimura, 39, the official arrested in May, on suspicion of falsifying documents in connection with the case. Kamimura, a section chief of the ministry’s health and welfare planning division for the handicapped, was initially arrested on suspicion of falsifying the certificate issued to the group.

Fresh warrants were also served the same day on Kunio Kurasawa, 73, the founder of the group, and Tadashi Kono, 68, a former member of the group. Kuraswa was arrested in April and Kono in May.

The prosecutors suspect Muraki, when she was the head of a ministry section in charge of measures for the disabled, collaborated with the three others under arrest to falsify the certificate in early June 2004, the investigative sources said. She presented the document to Japan Post later in the month, they said.

Muraki has denied the allegations during questioning, the sources said. Prior to her arrest, she also told reporters she has no memory of the group’s name or issuance of the document.

But Kamimura and Kurasawa have indicated her involvement in the case. Kamimura has said he handed a certificate forged by him to Muraki while Kurasawa said he received the document directly from Muraki, according to the sources.

Hakusan-kai allegedly tied up with companies such as Osaka-based ad agency Shinsei Kigyo to send direct mail from firms including electronics discount store Best Denki Co., by abusing the discount system to save postal fees.

Under Japan Post’s mail discount system for handicapped people, mail charges are sharply discounted to around 8 yen each per mail item from the regular fee of 120 yen.

A number of people, including the president of Shinsei Kigyo, a former Best Denki official and Japan Post officials, have been arrested in the case.

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3 Comments

sensei258 at 06:41 PM JST - 14th June

Senior Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry official=suspended sentence, case closed. Next!
electric2004 at 09:38 PM JST - 14th June

Haku san kai:

Interesting name.

My little son in kindergarten would translate it as:

Tree times vomiting.
BBLeo at 07:08 PM JST - 15th June

Yes, I agree. Suspended sentence will be served. After five years of silence by investigation, and now finaly they are producing silent birds to courts and public.