The Japanese embassies of countries officially visited by the prime minister customarily received part of the so-called secret funds controlled by the Cabinet Secretariat as a "bonus" for their services, informed sources said Monday.
The money, which was handed over by people close to the prime minister or foreign minister, was pooled as what embassy staffers called a "special fund" and later spent on food and drink expenses by embassy officials, the sources added.
The discretionary funds handled by the Cabinet Secretariat and the Foreign Ministry have come under scrutiny after it was revealed last month that a former Foreign Ministry official had been embezzling at least tens of millions of yen from it.