The Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday indicted a former senior Defense Agency official on bribery charges in connection with an equipment procurement scandal.
It marks the fourth time in which 59-year-old Kenichi Ueno, former head of the agency's Central Procurement Office, has been indicted in the wide-ranging scandal, and sources close to the investigation said that prosecutors are close to completing their probe into the fiasco.
So far, 14 people have been indicted in connection with the scandal, including 12 from the private sector who have been charged with such allegations as breach of trust and paying bribes.
Those indicted include Masuo Morodomi, former head of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency, and Tatsumi Nagatoshi, former managing director at NEC Corp.