In an ironic twist, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda admitted Wednesday in the Diet that a Liberal Democratic Party chapter he heads in Gunma Prefecture changed the names on 112 receipts worth ¥9.5 million.
Last month, Fukuda warned his Cabinet ministers to keep their noses clean when dealing with political funds to avoid the numerous scandals that helped sink his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, and ruin the public's trust.
Fukuda claimed the name changes were not attempts to cook the financial reports but to correct errors made on the receipts when they were initially issued from 2004 to 2006.