The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday sentenced former Lower House lawmaker Joji Yamamoto to 11/2 years in prison for defrauding the state out of more than 25 million yen.
The court ruled that Yamamoto, 38, fraudulently obtained 25.49 million yen over three years after his election to the Lower House in October 1996 by pocketing the state-paid salary of a woman falsely registered as his policy secretary.
Later in the day, Yamamoto appealed the ruling to the Tokyo High Court and was released after providing bail of 30 million yen.