Takao Koyama, the arrested House of Councilors member mired in the KSD bribery scandal, posed questions in parliamentary panels designed to increase state aid to scaffolding firms that later set up an association chaired by an official from a KSD-linked organization, sources familiar with the case said Thursday.
Koyama, 57, resigned from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after being urged to do so following his arrest Tuesday for allegedly taking 20 million yen in bribes in exchange for influencing Diet panels to help KSD, an insurance foundation, win government approval for business plans.
KSD -- officially dubbed the KSD Foundation for Promoting Welfare of Independent Entrepreneurs -- is known to have approached Koyama and other lawmakers involved in issues relating to small businesses, the sources said, adding that scaffolding firms may have used a similar tactic.