Japanese lawmaker Kawai admits huge cash injection from LDP

January 24, 2020

Tokyo--Japanese ruling party lawmaker Anri Kawai Thursday admitted that she and her husband, also a lawmaker, received a total of 150 million yen from the party before the House of Councillors election in July last year.

The receipts are not illegal and pose no problem if they are listed in this year's political funds reports, Kawai, an Upper House member of the Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters.

An LDP branch headed by Kawai received 75 million yen from the party in three installments between April and June last year, according to the latest issue of the weekly Shukan Bunshun.

The magazine also reported that a separate LDP branch headed by her husband, Katsuyuki Kawai, former justice minister and a House of Representatives member, received the same amount from the party in two installments in the same period.

Most of the money received by Katsuyuki was transferred to his wife, according to the weekly.

Anri said that she received the funds in a short period because her campaign period was short. Separately speaking to reporters, Katsuyuki said he has nothing to add.

She has faced allegations that her campaign office paid some staff higher daily allowances than legally allowed. Opposition lawmakers allege that the funds from the LDP were used to cover the payment.

At an Upper House meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister and LDP President Shinzo Abe did not respond to an opposition question about whether the magazine report is true. Jiji Press