MOF likely to admit tampering with land sale documents

March 11, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Ministry of Finance is expected to admit that it has secretly rewritten documents related to a controversial discount sale of state land to private school operator Moritomo Gakuen, government sources said Saturday.

The admission that public documents have been tampered with is likely to deal a heavy blow to the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, political watchers said.

Opposition parties look certain to grill Abe and Finance Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as deputy prime minister, over the issue in parliament next week, they said.

Moritomo Gakuen is one of the school operators at the center of favoritism allegations against Abe.

The MOF has confirmed that such wording as the "special nature" of the land deal has been removed from its original documents before copies were disclosed to lawmakers, according to the sources.

It is expected to report the findings from its internal probes to the ruling and opposition parties on Monday.

The ministry is considering punishing officials at its head office, as well as its Kinki Local Finance Bureau, which drew up the documents in question, the sources said. Jiji Press