Tokyo Prosecutor Dismissed for Improper Relations with Woman

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--Japanese judicial and prosecutorial authorities on Wednesday dismissed 48-year-old prosecutor Masahito Nishida for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman he had investigated.

Nishida began the inappropriate relationship with the woman around 2024, after an investigation of her ended, according to the authorities. He was a member of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad at the time.

Before a summary order against the woman was finalized, Nishida received electronic money worth 3,000 yen from her and engaged in sexual acts with her at a hotel for which his lodging fee was paid from public funds in a different case.

Nishida admitted to the relationship in an internal investigation, saying that he thought the woman had feelings for him and that he let his guard down after the investigation into her ended.

"The matter has tremendously shaken the public's trust in the fairness of prosecutors' exercise of their authority and is extremely regrettable," Hiroshi Ichikawa, deputy chief of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, said in a press conference Wednesday. "We deeply apologize to the public."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]