Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata apologized Tuesday for failing to prove allegations he raised in the Diet that Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie made a shady fund transfer to a son of Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe.
The largest opposition party has come under fire for failing to authenticate an e-mail Nagata alleged was internal instructions by Horie to staff to transfer the funds.
The DPJ said in a statement later Tuesday that it has determined based on its in-house probe that the e-mail was fake. It has been earlier reported that a freelance journalist had actually sent and received the e-mail.