Editorial
Prosecutors need to identify source of funds in Ozawa aide donation scandal
Prosecutors have raided the personal office of ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa, as well as the headquarters and branches of major general contractor Kajima Corp., among other locations, over a donation scandal involving Ozawa's political fund-raising body Rikuzan-kai.
Rikuzan-kai bought a land lot in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, in October 2004. Ozawa's aides have explained that the organization obtained 400 million yen in loans from a financial institution and used most of the funds to pay for the land. However, suspicion has surfaced that money from another source was used to buy the property.
House of Representatives member Tomohiro Ishikawa, who was then responsible for funding at the organization as a private secretary to Ozawa, was quoted as telling prosecutors that 400 million yen provided by Ozawa was actually used to pay for the land lot. Nevertheless, the money is not recorded in Rikuzan-kai's political fund report.
Prosecutors asked Ozawa to submit himself for questioning over the money, but the DPJ bigwig failed to respond to the request, which apparently prompted them to raid locations connected to the scandal.
A former executive of mid-ranking general contractor Mizutani Kensetsu has reportedly told prosecutors that he handed 100 million yen to aides of Ozawa, half of which was handed to Ishikawa in October 2004 when the purchase was made.
The money was allegedly a reward for winning a subcontract for the construction of Isawa Dam, a project undertaken by the government. Kajima was the original contractor of the project. Ozawa's office used the politician's influence to help these firms win the contracts. This is what prosecutors asserted in the trial of Takanori Okubo, a state-paid secretary to Ozawa, who is under indictment for a political donation scandal.
Prosecutors apparently suspect that the 400 million yen may include money from general contractors. They are urged to analyze the documents they confiscated during their raids and question those involved in a bid to get to the bottom of the case.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Ozawa declined to explain the scandal on the grounds that prosecutors are currently investigating the case. If his political fund-raising body received money in return for using his influence to help the donors receive contracts, it would be quite similar to the old-fashioned political style of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). If this is not the case, he should provide a clear explanation to the public.
A regular Diet session convenes on Monday. Opposition parties are poised to grill the DPJ-led administration over the scandal. Ozawa should not only submit himself to prosecutors for questioning but also provide testimony over the case before the Diet if requested to do so. Doing so would be consistent with his criticism of the LDP over its political funding when the DPJ was an opposition party.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who heads the DPJ, says he is not in a position to comment on the case. One cannot help but wonder why the governing party has failed to take any action to get to the bottom of the case. Such a stance could damage the public's confidence in the DPJ which swept it to power.
Some members of the public are obviously wondering why prosecutors launched their full-scale investigation by raiding locations connected to the scandal the day after Ozawa held a news conference over the case.
To remove such doubts, prosecutors are also urged to provide an explanation about the timing of their investigation.
(Mainichi Japan) January 15, 2010