Upper House member Anri Kawai found herself embroiled in another scandal Thursday following a magazine report that said she received exceptionally high financial backing from Liberal Democratic Party headquarters to oust a political enemy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The weekly Shukan Bunshun reported that two Hiroshima chapters of the ruling LDP that were headed by Kawai and her husband, former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, received a total of ¥150 million from LDP headquarters over the course of about three months before the Upper House election last July.
The duo are already beleaguered by allegations they violated the election law, and the magazine's report implies the LDP money could be the source of their alleged misconduct involving the payment of wages to campaign workers beyond the legal limit.