Following a meeting with former Moritomo Gakuen head Yasunori Kagaoike at the Osaka Detention Center on Friday, opposition lawmakers said Kagoike told them he was certain Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie, made comments to him in support of a land deal that gave the school a substantial discount.
"Asked whether Akie Abe had praised the land and said to please go ahead with the project, a comment that had been deleted from Finance Ministry documents, Kagoike said there was 'no mistake' that she said something along those lines and that she received reports regarding negotiations to purchase the land," Lower House member Masato Imai of Kibo no To (Party of Hope) told reporters after the 45-minute meeting.
The prime minister told an Upper House committee on March 14 that his wife had told him she did not make that comment. But Kagoike's statements to the visiting Diet members, which are consistent with his Diet testimony last year, and statements to the media since the scandal broke in February 2017 are increasing pressure on Akie Abe to officially respond.