Japanese Lawmaker Sonoura to Face Summary Indictment over Funding

Tokyo, Dec. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese prosecutors are highly likely to summarily indict ruling party lawmaker Kentaro Sonoura on charges of underreporting the amount of money collected through fundraising parties, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.

A political fund management group for the 50-year-old Liberal Democratic Party member in the House of Representatives said in its 2018-2020 financial statements that it collected a total of 43.62 million yen from six fundraising parties in Tokyo.

But the group is suspected of having raised about 40 million yen more than reported, the sources said. Sonoura is expected to face summary indictment by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on charges of violating the political funds control law.

A secretary to Sonoura who has been in charge of accounting at the fund management group has told investigators from the prosecutors' office that some revenue from fundraisers had been moved off the books and that the Lower House lawmaker had been briefed of the underreporting, the sources said.

Sonoura admitted that he had been briefed of the underreporting by the secretary, when he was questioned by investigators from the prosecutors' office on a voluntary basis on Tuesday and Wednesday, the sources said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]