Prosecutors are expected to decide this week whether to establish a criminal case against Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's former secretary over funds logged as donations from fictitious donors, investigative sources said.
The investigative team of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office is unlikely to indict Hatoyama due to a lack of evidence showing his involvement in the falsification of his political funds reports, but is aiming to file an indictment without arrest against his 59-year-old former secretary, the sources said.
Prosecuting Hatoyama would in any case be problematic as indicting a state minister requires the consent of the prime minister under the Constitution.
The team plans to make a final decision on the case after consulting with higher-level prosecutors, they said.
Hatoyama's former secretary began falsifying political funds reports at least 10 years ago and the falsified amounts totaled ¥350 million in the five years to 2008, according to sources.
The former secretary, who was in charge of accounting for the prime minister's Yuai Seikei Konwa-kai political fund management body, was dismissed in June after the scandal broke.
The funds logged as donations by fictitious donors are suspected of having come from the prime minister's 87-year-old mother, as well as from Hatoyama himself.