An official at an affiliate of the scandal-tainted mutual aid foundation KSD staged "enka" concerts in 1995 and 1996 on behalf of Masakuni Murakami of the Liberal Democratic Party, sources said Wednesday.
The official, Hiromichi Miura, 69, told Kyodo News before his arrest Tuesday that the concerts cost some 22 million yen to stage, but admission was free, part of efforts to drum up support for Murakami ahead of the House of Councilors election in 1998.
The sources said Miura organized the events at the request of KSD founder and former director Tadao Koseki, 79, who is also under arrest.
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