The leader of a rightist group said Saturday that Naoki Inose gave him ¥5 million shortly after being elected Tokyo governor in December 2012 for arranging a meeting he had with the founder of the nation's top hospital group, whose dubious ¥50 million loan prompted Inose to resign last month.
Inose, 67, may have used part of the ¥50 million from hospital chain Tokushukai to supply the ¥5 million paid to Mitsuhiro Kimura, leader of the right-wing political group Issuikai.
Such a transaction would contradict Inose's claim that the ¥50 million was "totally untouched" after his late wife put the money in a safe-deposit box until it was returned to Tokushukai.