The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday approved a prosecutors' request to detain House of Representatives member Joji Yamamoto and his secretary for 10 days until Sept. 15.
Yamamoto and his secretary, Akinori Imai, 35, were arrested Monday on suspicion of fraud and misuse of 20 million yen the government tried to pay to a woman registered as the lawmaker's secretary in charge of policy affairs.
Yamamoto, 37, represented Tokyo's No. 21 electoral district for the Democratic Party of Japan. He resigned from the opposition party shortly before his arrest.