Ex-Lawmaker Ishii Charged with Secretary Pay Fraud

Tokyo, Sept. 30 (Jiji Press)–The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on Tuesday indicted without arrest former lawmaker Akira Ishii and a former staffer at his office, Kaaru Okawa, 60, for alleged fraud involving state-paid salaries of a secretary. The prosecutors did not disclose whether the two admitted to the charges. According to the indictment, Ishii, 68, a former member of the House of Councillors, and the staffer allegedly defrauded the state of 8.28 million yen between May 2021 and October 2022 by registering a male employee of an Ishii-headed social welfare service corporation as a public secretary. They are believed to have submitted a fictitious document to the Upper House’s secretariat in April 2021, claiming that the man was hired as Ishii’s second public secretary. According to informed sources, the man, a relative of Ishii, has told investigators that he did not work as a state-paid secretary. Prosecutors stopped short of indicting the man. Ishii is believed to have refused to admit his involvement in the case. Prosecutors decided not to arrest him on the grounds that he was unlikely to flee or destroy evidence. Okawa is believed to have managed the salaries paid to the man’s bank account and used the money to cover office expenses. Ishii has been expelled from opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) over the scandal. The prosecutors office raided Ishii’s office in Toride in the eastern prefecture of Ibaraki, his office in the Upper House lawmakers building in Tokyo and other related locations on Aug. 27. On Aug. 29, Ishii announced his resignation as a lawmaker, promising to fully cooperate with the investigation. His resignation was approved by the Upper House on Sept. 1. After serving as a Toride assembly member, Ishii was elected to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, in 2009 from the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan. In the 2016 Upper House election, he ran from Osaka Ishin no Kai, the predecessor of Nippon Ishin. He quit during his second term. Nippon Ishin Secretary-General Hiroshi Nakatsuka released a statement apologizing to voters. “Such a thing should never happen,” he said, adding that the party will “work on recovering trust” by calling on members to follow rules strictly. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]