Ichiro Ozawa maintained Wednesday he had nothing to do with the alleged falsification of political funding reports, telling the Tokyo District Court he left all financial matters to his secretaries and doesn't remember what one of his secretaries says he told the political don about how the money in question was being handled.
The former Democratic Party of Japan president is accused of conspiring with his aides to falsify his funding reports in 2004 and 2005 over a ¥400 million land deal in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. He is pleading not guilty and in testimony that started Tuesday he said he never saw the records or issued any orders to his aides to make false entries.
One former aide, Tomohiro Ishikawa, currently an independent lawmaker, testified earlier that he had explained to Ozawa that Rikuzankai, Ozawa's political fund management body, was going to borrow money from a bank by using ¥400 million in Ozawa's money as collateral to the property in Setagawa Ward. If the testimony is true, it would indicate Ozawa was involved in controlling Rikuzankai's funds.