Former communications minister Seiko Noda on Thursday denied she had been wined and dined by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. as reported by a weekly magazine in the latest development of a scandal involving the telecom giant and the communications ministry.
Noda, executive acting secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, made the denial a day after weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun said she was treated to lavish dinners by NTT presidents and officials in 2017 and 2018 while serving as minister of internal affairs and communications.
Aside from Noda, the magazine reported Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Manabu Sakai and LDP lawmaker Minoru Terada, who both served as a senior vice minister at the ministry, were treated to expensive meals by the company.