Prosecutors are set to question Ichiro Ozawa for the fourth time on a voluntary basis over false financial reporting by his political funds management body, sources said Friday.
The prosecutors are now making final arrangements to hold the questioning over Rikuzankai's statement as early as Saturday afternoon, they said.
He has told investigators he can undergo questioning on Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon under the condition that it take no longer than about two or three hours and questions are limited to the allegations over the fund management body's 2007 report.
An inquest body ruled in July it was inappropriate for prosecutors not to charge Ozawa over the case involving the body's 2007 report. However, prosecutors are not expected to pursue criminal charges as new evidence is unlikely to emerge in the latest round.
Ozawa was questioned twice before prosecutors decided in February not to pursue criminal charges against him. He was questioned a third time after another judicial panel decided in April that he merited indictment over other aspects of the case involving Rikuzankai's reports in 2004 and 2005.