The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor＊s 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 Upper House lawmaker, and the staffer allegedly defrauded the state of some ?8.28 million ($56,000) between May 2021 and October 2022 by registering a male employee of a social welfare service corporation headed by Ishii 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 the opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai over the scandal.
The prosecutor＊s office raided Ishii＊s office in the city of Toride in Ibaraki Prefecture, 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 member of Toride Municipal Assembly, Ishii was elected to the Lower House in 2009 under the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan.
In the 2016 Upper House election, he ran under what was then the Osaka Ishin no Kai. He quit during his second term.
Nippon Ishin Secretary-General Hiroshi Nakatsuka has 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.
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