Prosecutors arrested a 41-year-old office worker on suspicion of fraud on Monday for allowing scandal-tainted lawmaker Yojiro Nakajima to name him as Nakajima's secretary without actually performing the job, and thus illegally receive funds from state coffers.
According to investigators, Yoshiaki Saito was listed as the legislator's policy affairs secretary, a position whose salary is paid by the state.
The bank account out of which Saito's salary was paid was in fact managed by Nakajima, then of the Liberal Democratic Party. Of the 10 million yen paid into the account from the state, the lawmaker is suspected of having pocketed roughly 5 million yen, investigators said.
Nakajima, 39, has already been arrested on three separate charges -- vote-buying, falsifying documents related to political subsidies and accepting bribes.