A former aide to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama yesterday admitted to cooking the books on political fundraising reports to hide money from Hatoyama’s own family fortune.
The funding scandal has hurt the half-year-old center left government led by Hatoyama, whose approval rating has fallen to 36 percent, down seven points from last month, new poll by the business daily Nikkei Shimbun said.
Hatoyama’s former chief accountant, Keiji Katsuba, appeared before the Tokyo District Court and admitted misreporting millions of dollars, saying that “nothing is inaccurate” in his indictment.
The 59-year-old has been charged with falsifying reports to make it appear that ¥400 million (US$4.3 million) provided by Hatoyama and his millionaire mother were donated by individual supporters.
The money was donated to Hatoyama’s political fundraising organization, which pays for election campaigning in his district, as well as office expenses, staff wages and other outlays.
Katsuba has previously denied Hatoyama’s personal involvement.
The prime minister’s powerful and wealthy family is sometimes referred to as “Japan’s Kennedys.” One of his grandfathers was a conservative prime minister and the other founded tiremaker Bridgestone.
Speaking before the trial, Hatoyama said: “I have no choice but to let justice decide what justice should decide.”
“As a politician, I have spoken honestly and would like to assume my responsibility to explain whenever necessary,” he said.
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