Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Kosuke Ito admitted Saturday to arranging a meeting between an official at the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry and the president of Huser Ltd., a condominium developer involved in the ongoing building safety scandal, two days before the ministry disclosed the firm had constructed buildings using falsified quake-resistance data.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051127a2a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='170'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B> Kosuke Ito </B></FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>During the Nov. 15 meeting, Huser President Susumu Ojima -- who was introduced to the ministry official by Ito as a 'friend who wants help' -- asked the official not to reveal the scandal, according to sources close to the case.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>But on Saturday, Ojima denied he asked the ministry to bury the scandal, although admitting Ito had arranged the meeting with the official, who is at the division-chief level and deals with government instructions on buildings.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Ito, a House of Representatives member who served as chief of the former National Land Agency from 1996 to 1997, told reporters he introduced Ojima to the official because he 'thought they needed to discuss the background of the case and measures to be taken.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The ruling party lawmaker made the remarks following a Mainichi Shimbun report in the morning that he arranged the meeting two days before the ministry's Nov. 17 announcement that architect Hidetsugu Aneha had falsified quake-resistance data on a hotel and 20 condominiums in the Kanto area.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The Tokyo-based Huser developed seven of the 13 completed condominiums involved in the scandal.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Ojima donated 160,000 yen in both December 2002 and December 2003 to Ito's fund management body, and Huser bought about 1 million yen worth of tickets for an Ito fundraising party in September 2004, according to political sources.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>During the Nov. 15 meeting, Ojima asked the ministry not to publicize the scandal, saying, 'The government should also be held responsible because the building plans had been approved by the government-designated body, eHomes Inc.,' according to the sources close to the case.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The president also asked the government to use taxpayers' money to help the firm rebuild defective condominiums and deal with other claims that would arise from the scandal, the sources said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The official told Ojima the ministry would 'deal with the issue in line with the law,' citing the government policy to place priority on the safety of residents, the sources said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Earlier that day, Ito had asked the official to meet Ojima and accompanied him and several others from Huser to the ministry later in the day, they said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The lawmaker was present during the 30-minute meeting at the ministry but barely said a word, they said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Ojima, meanwhile, said Saturday his company is ready to buy back all condominiums built with falsified quake-resistance data.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'If condo residents request buybacks, there is no way to refuse,' Ojima told reporters.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>He previously refused to buy back the condos, saying only that his firm was ready to rebuild or repair them.</PARAGRAPH> <SUBHEAD> Suicide suspected</SUBHEAD> <PARAGRAPH> YOKOHAMA –

Police said Saturday they found the body of a man believed to have links with the ongoing building safety scandal on a beach in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.

They suspect the man, identified as Nobuhide Morita, 55, committed suicide.

The Tokyo-based architect had asked Aneha Architect Design Office in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, headed by disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha, to calculate quake-resistance data for his buildings.

Two condominium buildings designed by Morita are among structures identified by the land ministry as being too shaky to take strong earthquakes.

Morita's office was inspected last Tuesday by building safety regulators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Morita went missing soon after the data falsification scandal surfaced earlier this month.