Prosecutors on Monday arrested House of Representatives member Joji Yamamoto on suspicion of fraud in connection with the alleged misuse of 20 million yen of his former secretary's state-paid salary, investigative sources said.
Yamamoto, a 37-year-old lawmaker representing Tokyo's No. 21 electoral district, has denied the allegation, the sources said.
Yamamoto, a close aide to Naoto Kan, policy chief of the Democratic Party of Japan, tendered his resignation earlier in the day to party Secretary General Tsutomu Hata, who accepted it, DPJ officials said.