Tokyo, Dec 5 — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is facing a criminal complaint for allegedly violating the Political Funds Control Law, dealing another blow to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which is already embroiled in a major funding scandal.
The complaint was filed by Hiroshi Kamiwaki, a constitutional law professor at Kobe Gakuin University, alleging that the LDP's local chapter in Nara Prefecture, represented by Takaichi, received a corporate donation that exceeded the legal maximum limit, learned the Noticias Argentinas agency.
Violation of the funding limit According to the complaint, the LDP chapter linked to Takaichi received a donation of 10 million yen (about $64,400) in August 2024. The excess funds were not registered as official income in political funding reports and were then diverted to lawmakers as kickbacks, creating a slush fund.
Prime Minister Takaichi's position is further complicated: seven of the senior officials she appointed after taking office in October have been linked to the LDP's illegal funding scandal. Critics point out that the head of government's ambiguous stance on this crisis suggests a lack of will to push for fundamental reforms to the party's financing system.
Professor Kamiwaki also filed a separate complaint on Wednesday against Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, whose LDP faction in Kanagawa Prefecture is said to have committed a similar violation by receiving 10 million yen, also exceeding the legal limit.
Context of the LDP illegal funding scandal
These new cases are part of a broader political ethics crisis affecting the LDP since 2023. The original scandal involved several party factions that allegedly operated "unregistered funds" schemes. Under that scheme, lawmakers sold tickets to fundraising events beyond their allocated quotas. This amount exceeded the legal limit of 7.5 million yen for a donor of that size.
