Tatsuo Tomobe, a former Upper House member who was expelled from the Diet in 2001 after being convicted of fraud, died last Saturday at age 83, police said.
Tomobe was found unconscious in the toilet at his Tokyo home early Saturday morning by his wife and was confirmed dead after being taken to a hospital, the police said Friday.
Tomobe was elected to the House of Councilors in 1995 as a candidate of the now-defunct Shinshinto (New Frontier Party). But he was arrested in January 1997 for swindling ¥660 million from 35 people through an investment scheme of a mutual aid association he ran. His lost his Diet seat when his 10-year sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in June 2001.