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Anonymous ID: 2c7782 Jan. 3, 2020, 10:15 a.m. No.7703483   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Tokyo prosecutors question 5 lawmakers over casino-bribery case

 

Tokyo prosecutors have conducted voluntary questioning of five House of Representatives members for their alleged receipt of cash from a Chinese gambling operator involved in a suspected casino-bribery case, an investigative source said Friday. The five lawmakers suspected to have received about 1 million yen ($9,200) each from the company, 500.com Ltd., include former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party member of the lower house, the source said. Four of the five belong to the LDP, headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the other is a member of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, according to the source.

 

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is investigating if the lawmakers or their secretaries have received money in violation of the political funds control law, which bans donations from foreigners or foreign organizations. Iwaya, 62, and two others were members of a cross-party group of lawmakers who advocated promoting so-called integrated resorts comprising of casinos, hotels and conference hall facilities in Japan. Some of the members' constituencies are located in Hokkaido and Okinawa, regions in which 500.com was interested in entering integrated resort projects.

 

Japan recently legalized casinos to be operated at integrated resorts in hopes of attracting more foreign tourists and helping to boost the economy after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200103/p2g/00m/0na/068000c