A former lawmaker of Komeito, the junior party in the ruling coalition, and three others were indicted Tuesday for illegally mediating public loans to companies, including some hit by the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors said.
Kiyohiko Toyama, who stepped down as a Komeito lawmaker in February, and Akira Shibuya, who used to work as an aide to Masataka Ota, a former House of Representatives member of the ruling party, are suspected of separately receiving about ¥10 million in return for helping to secure loans from Japan Finance Corp., even though the two were not licensed to do so.
Toyama, 52, served as a senior vice minister at the Finance Ministry, which manages the government-backed lender, for one year to September 2020. He was regarded as a future leader of the junior coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party.