Masakuni Murakami, a senior LDP lawmaker who resigned before being arrested in connection with the KSD bribery scandal, had an affiliate of the mutual aid organization hand over the monthly rent for his offices in cash rather than having it paid into a bank account, investigative sources said Saturday.
Murakami, 68, is accused of having the KSD affiliate pay a total of 22 million yen in rent for his offices between June 1996 and July 1998. Of that amount, he received some 5.3 million yen through bank remittances but the remaining 17.6 million yen was handed over in person, the sources said.
Prosecutors believe Murakami decided to change the way the money was given to him around November 1996 so as not to leave any documentation of the transfers, an indication that the money was effectively a bribe.