Former agriculture minister Takamori Yoshikawa was indicted Friday by prosecutors without arrest for alleged bribery charges, after receiving ¥5 million from the former president of Akita Foods, a Hiroshima Prefecture-based egg producer, over several years.
Yoshikawa, 70, resigned as a Lower House member in late December over the scandal, citing health reasons, and has also left the Liberal Democratic Party.
The controversy is a political blow for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government, and is likely to be the subject of inquiries by opposition parties when the Diet convenes on Monday.