Michihiko Kano, former vice president of the Democratic Party of Japan who quit the party over his ties to a scandal-hit firm, was asked by an executive of the company to support a rookie candidate in the mayoral election in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, in fall 2000, sources close to the case said Saturday.

Kano quit the DPJ Wednesday because two of his secretaries were paid salaries by the Tokyo-based consulting firm Gyosai Toshi Kaihatsu Kenkyujo. One of his former secretaries, Mitsuro Ozaki, is an executive of the firm.

Ozaki was arrested in January in a bid-rigging case in Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture, and has been served two more arrest on similar charges.

Kano, who has consistently denied any connection with the firm, admitted to Kyodo News through his office that Ozaki, 56, had come to his office in 2000 or 2001 to seek his support for the candidate.

Kano claimed Wednesday he was not aware of the payments to his secretaries and could not recall when he met Ozaki for the last time, claiming it was a long time ago.

According to the sources, the firm supported 64-year-old candidate Hiroshi Kitazawa, a former company president, in the November 1996 and November 2000 mayoral elections in Tsukuba. The candidate lost both times.

Ozaki and Kitazawa visited Kano at his office in Tokyo's Nagatacho to ask for his support in the 2000 election.

Kitazawa is the son of a former member of the ruling the Liberal Democratic Party and the House of Representatives to whom Ozaki was a secretary before becoming secretary to Kano, the sources said.