Sadao Usuda, former president of the Japan Dental Association, was handed a suspended three-year prison term Tuesday for providing an undeclared 100 million yen donation in 2001 to the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction.
The Tokyo District Court pointed to the faction, then headed by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, as being the "trigger" because it refused to issue a receipt for the donation, leading Usuda, 74, and others to fail to declare the sum to the government as required and thus violating the Political Funds Control Law.
Usuda was also found guilty of embezzlement and paying bribes.