A company in the joint venture that won a contract for a Wakayama sewage system project under suspicious circumstances donated 1.46 million yen to two support groups for Gov. Yoshiki Kimura between 2001 and 2005, investigative sources said Saturday.
The prefecture's former chief treasurer, Satoaki Mizutani, 60, was served a fresh arrest warrant Thursday for allegedly playing a part in determining successful bidders for the project in the city of Iwade in November 2004.
The police also learned that the building that Kimura used as his office in Kainan during a gubernatorial race was leased by the same contractor.
The Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office, focusing on the fact that the contractor was a strong backer of Kimura, plans to investigate the background of the donation and whether the governor was involved in the bid-rigging.