In a closed Diet session viewed as an LDP gesture to draw the curtain on a money scandal before the July Upper House elections, the party's policy head said Friday that he received 225 million yen from an oil dealer as legitimate political donations.

Junichi Izui, an oil wholesaler now on trial on charges of income tax evasion and fraud, has claimed he donated about 278 million yen, including 78 million yen to Taku Yamasaki between 1991 and 1995.

No new facts surfaced during the meeting of the Lower House Council on Political Ethics, convened to look into the alleged illegal donations involving Yamasaki, informed sources said.