Prosecutors demanded a three-year prison term Monday for Yoshie Yamaguchi for allegedly receiving two credit union loans totaling 2.7 billion yen without sufficient collateral.
Appearing before the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors claimed that her brother, former Labor Minister Toshio Yamaguchi, was also involved in the illegal loan operation. According to prosecutors, Yoshie Yamaguchi, 61, in collaboration with Harunori Takahashi, 52, former president of the Tokyo Kyowa Credit Union, had his credit union and the Anzen Credit Union extend the loans to her company, Musashi Kosei Bunka Corp., which operated golf courses.
They said the loans, made from June to December 1994, drove the credit unions into bankruptcy and undermined public trust in the national financial system. The prosecutors said the certificates of golf club membership provided as collateral were worthless.