According to the Japan Times their Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama may have received loans from his mother totalling some ¥900m (£6.1 m). Some of this was then recorded as coming from fictitious donors for his political funding. Hatoyama, President of the Democratic Party of Japan, took office in September.

That way he, it is claimed, could avoid paying a huge ‘gift tax’ bill. Also, if the funds had been made directly to his political funds it would have violated the Political Funds Control Law that limits individual donations to ¥1.5m (£10,200) a year.Hatoyama has expressed surprise to the press and said he was “wondering what was going on without me knowing about it”. He also denies receiving such large amount of money and has stated such to the Diet of Japan. According to his fund reports he only received the maximum allowed by law from his mother.

Hatoyama’s mother, Yasuko Hatoyama, is the eldest daughter of Shojiro Ishibashi, the Founder of the Bridgestone Corporation and is also a major shareholder.

The scandal broke in June and Hatoyama sacked the aide involved in accounting for the funds. According to Hatoyama he knew nothing about it. According to the former aide and prosecutors he was well aware of the situation.

Prosecutors believe that the political fund reports have falsified at least ¥21.77m (£1.47m) over some 4 years and have the testimony of a former employee of the Prime Minister. Hatoyama has already apologised for the actions of the aide and corrected the records.

Hatoyama comes from a prominent Japanese family known for their political influence and have been dubbed the ‘Kennedy Family of Japan’.

So our politicians can rest easy knowing they are not the only ones embroiled in financial scandal.

Tags: japan, News, Politics, Prime Minister, scandal, yukio hatoyama

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