Special investigators from the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office raided the offices of two Liberal Democratic Party factions on Tuesday morning as part of their widening investigation into a political funds scandal that has rocked Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration.
The raids involved the offices of the 99-member Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai faction, once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the 40-member Shisuikai, led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai. They were the latest development in an ongoing investigation by Tokyo prosecutors into allegations that unreported kickbacks from the sale of tickets for political party fundraisers over a five year period through 2022 may have amounted to around ¥500 million for the Abe faction and over ¥100 million for the Nikai faction.
The scandal revolves around the issue of unreported kickbacks. Faction members were given a quota for selling tickets for fundraising parties. Revenue from ticket sales that exceeded their quota was kicked back to them but kept off the books in violation of the political funds law.