Three senior members of the Liberal Democratic Party caught up in a political slush-fund scandal agreed Wednesday to appear before a Lower House ethics committee that will be convened next week.
Former trade and industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, former LDP Diet affairs committee chair Tsuyoshi Takagi and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno have agreed to give voluntary testimony to the committee. Former education minister Ryu Shionoya and former internal affairs minister Ryota Takeda had expressed their intention to attend Tuesday.
Nishimura, Takagi, Matsuno, and Shionoya are all senior members of the faction that was led by the late former Prime Minster Shinzo Abe. Nishimura, Matsuno and Takagi have served as faction secretary-general and were responsible for overseeing the kickback scheme, which involved returning excess funds from political fundraising events to faction members — money they kept off the books. Takeda is secretary-general of the Nikai faction.