A fresh case of alleged corruption, with a link to a previous case involving Tokyo Medical University, rattled the scandal-hit education ministry Thursday following the arrest of another senior official.
Kazuaki Kawabata, 57, the ministry's director-general for international affairs, is suspected of being wined-and-dined by consulting firm executive Koji Taniguchi to the tune of ¥1.4 million ($12,600) between 2015 and 2017 in exchange for a favor to Taniguchi's firm, the prosecutors said. Kawabata was on loan at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency at the time.
Taniguchi was indicted Tuesday for his alleged compliance in corruption involving the ministry and Tokyo Medical University.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday also indicted Futoshi Sano, 59, former director-general of the ministry's science and technology bureau, as well as two former executives of Tokyo Medical University on graft charges.
Sano is accused of helping the university secure ¥35 million in government subsidies in exchange for the admission of his son into the school. Masahiko Usui, former chairman of the university's board of regents, and Mamoru Suzuki, its former president, were arrested on suspicion they bribed Sano.
