Japan Payoff Scandal Becomes Headache for Abe’s Ruling Party
Japan Lawmaker Got Funds From Scandal-Linked Exec, Kyodo Says
(Bloomberg) -- The worst crisis to hit Japan’s nuclear industry since the 2011 Fukushima disaster threatened to entangle Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party amid scrutiny of donations to lawmakers.
Hiroshige Seko of the Liberal Democratic Party received 6 million yen ($56,000) of donations from the president of a company linked to the furor surrounding Kansai Electric Power Co.’s nuclear operations, Kyodo News said. Seko’s office confirmed a donation, but didn’t provide further details about the amount.
The former trade and industry minister, a close ally of Abe’s, received the money between 2012 and 2015 from the president of a company called Yanagida Sangyo, the agency reported, citing funding records. Yanagida Sangyo had close ties with Kansai Electric and employed the former official at the center of the payoff scandal.
The scrutiny on ruling party lawmakers shows the widening fallout from revelations late last month that a local official in western Japan paid Kansai executives some $3 million of cash and gifts. The scandal prompted criticism from both sides of the political aisle and raised new doubts about Abe’s plans to restart dozens of nuclear reactors shut following the Fukushima meltdowns.
From August 2016 until last month, Seko led the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which sets long-term energy policy and nuclear-power-production targets.
On Wednesday, Kansai announced the departure of two top executives, including the immediate resignation of Chairman Makoto Yagi. President Shigeki Iwane intends to leave after an independent investigation into the payments from Eiji Moriyama, a former official in a town that hosts a large nuclear plant.
Kansai has denied that the payments influenced the company’s contracting decisions.
Yanagida Sangyo’s website says it is an engineering company that lists Kansai Electric as its top customer. It has an office in each of the locations where Kansai operates a nuclear power plant.
Payments from a person of the same name as the Yanagida Sangyo president were made to Seko in the period reported by Kyodo, according to documents posted on a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications website.
Seko’s office said he currently had no plans to return the money, which it was treating as appropriate donations. In a faxed response to questions, the office denied knowing that Moriyama, who died in March, was employed by the company and said Seko hadn’t been acquainted with him.
“Up until now, we have dealt appropriately with donations from individuals and companies linked to illegal activity, including by returning the money,” Seko’s office said. “We will continue to watch the situation closely.”
Asked about the report, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Akihiro Nishimura said Wednesday it was up to politicians to explain individual donations.
--With assistance from Emi Nobuhiro and Stephen Stapczynski.
To contact the reporters on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net;Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz
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