Upper House member Tatsuo Tomobe, who has been indicted on suspicion of massive fraud, denied on Mar. 21 allegations that he misappropriated funds collected by Orange Kyosai Kumiai, a mutual aid society run by his family, to buy a Diet seat.
Tomobe, 68, made the remark as a sworn witness before a group of Upper House Budget Committee lawmakers probing the fraud scandal. The group of legislators visited Tomobe late Mar. 21 at the Metropolitan Police Department, where he is being held, to have him testify about the allegedly questionable flow of funds.
It has been reported that about 1 billion yen of the collected money was funneled to other politicians to secure his selection as a candidate for the 1995 Upper House election. "Tomobe replied that it was not him but his wife and one of his sons who were in charge of managing the money collected by Orange Kyosai," said Taichiro Okawara, chairman of the committee and head of the group. "He reiterated he knew nothing about the flow of money," Okawara told reporters after the group's meeting with Tomobe.