The Tokyo High Court on Monday upheld a lower court-imposed 26-month prison term and 72.8 million yen fine for former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami for taking bribes from KSD, an organization that provides industrial accident liability insurance to small businesses.
Murakami, 73, also a former House of Councilors member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, had maintained his innocence.
The Tokyo District Court in May 2003 convicted Murakami of receiving in October 1996 50 million yen in cash from Tadao Koseki, the founder and then head of KSD, who died last February, in return for posing questions in the Diet that benefited KSD.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.