A scandal involving the chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission erupted Friday when it was reported that he had received millions of yen in advisory fees as well as money to cover the rental of offices and staff from Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. over a seven-year period.
Kimitaka Kuze, the Cabinet minister in charge of nursing the nation's embattled financial sector back to health, acknowledged that he received the benefits but emphasized during a hastily called news conference that he had done nothing illegal.
The revelations came just as the Diet convened for an extraordinary session and opposition forces are likely to attack the ruling coalition over the Kuze affair. Diet affairs officials from four major opposition parties agreed later Friday that they will demand Kuze's resignation.