Democratic Party of Japan leader Seiji Maehara said Sunday the Diet should carry out its own investigations into the allegation that Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie ordered a 30 million yen payment to the younger son of the secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
"We have obtained information concerning a financial institution," Maehara said.
The DPJ alleges Horie, in an e-mail dated last Aug. 26, ordered funds to be transferred to LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe's son.
"We have confidence" in the credibility of the e-mail, Maehara said on Fuji TV.
Takebe denied the allegation, saying his son's account records show no money transfer from Horie.
Toranosuke Katayama, LDP secretary general in the House of Councilors, said on the same TV program it would be difficult for the Diet to investigate the allegation as the DPJ has not provided enough evidence to back up whether the e-mail was actually sent from someone linked with Livedoor.
A printout of the purported e-mail released by the DPJ late Friday contains several blacked-out passages, including the name of the sender and the recipient.