OSAKA (Kyodo) A former senior official at a government-authorized welfare association indicted for embezzlement has told prosecutors he provided some ¥1.2 million to a former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker from its slush fund, investigative sources said Friday.
The former lawmaker, whose name is being withheld, is believed to have urged the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to provide around ¥20 million in state subsidies to Zenkoku Seishin Shogaisha Shakai Fukki Shisetsu Kyokai (The National Association for Assisting the Rehabilitation of Mentally Disabled People) in fiscal 2008, prompting the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office to probe the details.
According to the sources, Sadao Sotome, 58, former secretary general of the welfare body, withdrew some ¥9.64 million from its bank account for the slush fund, and provided around ¥1.2 million of the money to the former LDP lawmaker at the request of the group's late chairman in spring 2007.