A political organization associated with the secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party transferred a large amount of funds to another group subject to less stringent rules on the disclosure of usage, their balance sheets showed Wednesday.
The organization linked to Lower House lawmaker Toshimitsu Motegi, the No. 2 figure after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the LDP, has moved around ¥440 million ($3 million) to the recipient group for 14 years through 2022, according to the balance sheets.
The funds transfer has made it impossible to trace how more than 94% of them were used. Some pundits have criticized Motegi for apparently creating and utilizing a slush fund in violation of the political funds control law.