Three aides working for ruling party lawmakers Anri Kawai and her husband Katsuyuki Kawai were arrested Tuesday over alleged illegal payments made to campaign staff during last year's Upper House election, prosecutors said.
The authorities detained Hiroshi Tatemichi, a secretary to Anri Kawai, and one of her campaign staffers, Yugo Waki, as well as Shinsuke Takaya, a secretary to Katsuyuki Kawai.
The three are suspected of paying a combined ¥2.04 million to 14 campaign staff members between July 19 and 23 last year during the election in Hiroshima. The payments exceeded the legal cap of daily allowances for such workers in violation of the public office election law.