House of Councilors Takao Koyama was arrested Tuesday by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of accepting a 20 million yen bribe in 1996 from KSD, an insurance foundation under the purview of the former Labor Ministry.
Prosecutors suspect that Koyama, a 57-year-old member of the Liberal Democratic Party, received the money from 79-year-old Tadao Koseki, founder and then president of KSD, as payment for asking questions on the insurer's behalf in various Diet panels, they said.
KSD provides industrial accident insurance to small businesses.