Japanese prosecutors file charges against Abe's secretary over reimbursement suspicions for 'Cherry Blossom Viewing' pre-event participation fees

Suspected Violation of Political Funds Act with Missing Amount Exceeding 400 Million Won

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Regarding the allegations that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's side provided hospitality to supporters through the eve event of the "Cherry Blossom Viewing Party," Japanese prosecutors are expected to indict the secretary who was the representative of the political organization "Abe Shinzo Supporters Association" and was in charge of accounting.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 3rd, the Special Investigation Division of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office plans to indict Abe's official first secretary on charges of violating the Political Funds Control Act. Prosecutors are conducting final investigations on the suspicion that the secretary, knowing that part of the event costs were reimbursed, failed to report this in the political funds income and expenditure report. It is known that the secretary stated during the investigation that although the event costs should have been recorded in the supporters association's income and expenditure report, it was customary not to do so.

Prosecutors believe that the supporters association should have reported not only the reimbursed participation fees but the entire event costs every year from 2013 to last year, estimating the total amount omitted from the report to be around 40 million yen (approximately 420 million KRW).

Since Abe's second term began in 2013 until last year, his side held an eve party by inviting local figures from his constituency, Yamaguchi Prefecture, to a luxury hotel in Tokyo in conjunction with the government-hosted annual spring event "Cherry Blossom Viewing Party" held every April at Shinjuku Gyoen, a central Tokyo park. Participants paid about 5,000 yen as a participation fee, which was less than half of the actual event cost, raising controversy that the difference was covered by Abe's side.

Following this, over 900 lawyers and legal scholars nationwide filed a complaint with prosecutors accusing former Prime Minister Abe and the accounting officers of violating the Public Offices Election Act (prohibited donations) and the Political Funds Control Act (failure to report). Abe has denied reimbursing the difference so far, and it is expected that the investigation results will reveal whether he lied.

The Yomiuri reported that the Special Investigation Division of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office appears to be carefully considering the necessity of directly investigating former Prime Minister Abe.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.