Public prosecutors raided locations linked to Upper House lawmaker Akira Ishii on Wednesday over alleged fraud involving a fictitious secretary¡¯s salary.
Ishii, a 68-year-old member of Nippon Ishin no Kai, is suspected of receiving public funds by hiring a government-paid secretary who actually did not work for him, people familiar with the investigation said.
The locations searched by investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor¡¯s Office included Ishii¡¯s office in the capital.
Ishii, a native of Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture, was first elected to parliament by the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan in the 2009 Lower House election.
He is currently serving his second term in the Upper House, after first being elected to the chamber under the proportional representation system as a candidate from the then-Osaka Ishin no Kai in 2016.
Lawmakers can employ up to three secretaries on government payroll. A law was revised in 2004 to directly pay salaries to secretaries, following a series of fraud by lawmakers in the 1990s and 2000s.
Earlier this year, former Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose was found guilty of defrauding the government of some ?3.58 million ($24,200) by falsely claiming she had hired a government-paid secretary.
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