Yamarin, the Hokkaido logging firm that allegedly bribed arrested lawmaker Muneo Suzuki in 1998, escaped punishment for unauthorized logging in national forests in 1997 and paid some 6 million yen in political donations to him that same year, sources said Thursday.
A longtime supporter of Suzuki, Yamarin had only to submit a written explanation to the local district forest office regarding its unauthorized logging activities before the matter was settled, the sources said.
Tokyo prosecutors on Wednesday arrested Suzuki, 54, after his colleagues in the House of Representatives approved the action at a plenary session earlier in the day.