Japanese police raided the homes and offices of an architect and dozens of developers yesterday in connection with a widening scandal over buildings constructed using fabricated earthquake safety data, media reports said.
Police from Tokyo and two neighboring prefectures searched 117 locations in the first such raid since the scandal broke last month, Kyodo News Agency and public broadcaster NHK reported.
Officials from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, where the joint task force that conducted the raids is based, refused to comment.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe also declined to provide details, citing the continuing investigation.
"I hope that the authorities will firmly investigate the matter and get to the bottom of the facts," he said.
The homes and offices of developers and building inspectors, including those of disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha, were among the properties searched yesterday, Kyodo and NHK said.
The scandal broke last month when it was revealed that Aneha faked earthquake safety data for dozens of buildings around the quake-prone country, stirring public anger and anxiety.
Lawmakers have questioned Aneha and other construction industry figures in parliamentary sessions broadcast live by NHK.
"We want the police to clarify the facts quickly to prevent this sort of thing from happening again," Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa told reporters.
Japan's government has upgraded building standards since a magnitude-7.2 quake killed more than 6,400 people in the western port city of Kobe in 1995.
However, many Japanese suspect that substandard building construction is widespread.
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