Abe claims his wife was “deceivedˮ in Moritomo affair

October 12, 2017

TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday claimed that his wife, Akie, had been "deceived" into temporarily accepting the post of honorary principal of an elementary school planned by scandal-tainted Moritomo Gakuen.

"I think she was deceived" by Yasunori Kagoike, former head of the school operator, Abe said during a televised debate with other party leaders.

Kagoike and his wife were indicted earlier this year for fraudulently receiving over 200 million yen in subsidies for the envisioned elementary school and related kindergartens.

"It was a problem that my wife accepted the post of honorary principal at the school planned by the person who committed that kind of fraud," Abe said.

Opposition parties are attacking Abe for his poor explanations about alleged favoritism to Moritomo Gakuen, which acquired a plot of land for the elementary school from the government with a large discount. Jiji Press