The office of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe partially covered the costs of annual cherry blossom-viewing parties hosted by Abe's support group, which could have violated the political funds control law, the NHK broadcaster reported on Monday, citing multiple sources
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) The office of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe partially covered the costs of annual cherry blossom-viewing parties hosted by Abe's support group, which could have violated the political funds control law, the NHK broadcaster reported on Monday, citing multiple sources.
Earlier in the day, media reported that Japanese prosecutors had questioned voluntarily Abe's secretary, who headed the support group, regarding the dinner parties that were held every spring between 2013 and 2019 in two hotels in Tokyo. The questioning was initiated after a civic group had filed criminal complaints with Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office regarding payments for these parties. The complaints claimed that the amount of money paid by the supporters' group to the hotels for organizing the dinner parties exceeded the amount in fees collected from participants of the events.
According to the NHK broadcaster, Abe's office might have paid the difference between the total costs and the collected participation fees that could have violated the political funds control law. Sources say that according to itemized statements listing all the costs issued by the hotels and addressed to Abe's office, these costs amounted to about $200,000 between 2015 and 2019. Abe's office reportedly paid at least $77,000 to cover the difference between the general costs and the money paid by participants of these parties.
Abe's office earlier on Monday released a comment on the situation stating that it is complying with calls to cooperate with the investigators.
