A former official of the Sendai Defense Facilities Administration Bureau said Monday he kept a list of 14 current and former lawmakers and high-ranking defense officials who acted as "intermediaries" between the bureau and construction companies.
The list shows the names of the 14, including House of Representatives members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who pressured the defense bureau to award contracts to certain companies between April 1999 and June 2000. None of the 14 were identified.
The former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pressure was directed chiefly at the bureau's building and facilities sections, with nine cases concerning building projects, and five pertaining to land or facilities acquisitions.
Of the 14, eight are currently lawmakers -- seven Lower House members and one Upper House member, two are former lawmakers, one is a local assembly member and three are former senior Defense Agency officials.
Of the eight lawmakers, four served as Defense Agency chiefs, while three were state ministers, including director general of the former National Land Agency.
The Sendai Defense Facilities Administration Bureau is in charge of building and maintaining facilities for the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military in six northern prefectures.