Shizuoka Police Raid Ousted Ito Mayor's Home

Ito, Shizuoka Pref., Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)--Shizuoka prefectural police have raided the home of former Ito Mayor Maki Takubo, who faces allegations of falsifying her academic background, investigation sources said Saturday.

At the former mayor's residence, located in an area of the city lined with villas, investigators were seen erecting a curtain with blue tarps in the garden, likely to shield the scene from public view.

About 10 investigators loaded cardboard boxes believed to contain seized materials into a car and left the scene around 2:40 p.m.

According to the sources, Takubo denied all four charges against her, including a violation of the public offices election law, when she was questioned by the prefectural police on a voluntary basis on Jan. 29. Later, she also refused to voluntarily submit a diploma citing her right to refuse seizure.

Takubo was elected mayor for the first time in May last year after serving as a city assembly member. Despite initially claiming to have graduated from Toyo University, she announced in July of the same year that she had actually been expelled from the university.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]