Funeral money allegedly given by House of Representatives lawmaker Manabu Horii to voters in his constituency is suspected of having been paid out of his office funds, according to informed sources.
Horii is suspected of sending his secretary and others to offer condolence money in his name to voters in the Lower House's Hokkaido No. 9 constituency around 2022, in violation of the public offices election law, with the total amount of illegal donations seen reaching hundreds of thousands of yen.
The public offices election law prohibits politicians from giving donations to voters in their electoral districts, except in cases where politicians offer condolence money at funerals that they themselves also attend.
Horii, 52, who used to belong to a now-defunct faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, explained in January that he used unreported kickbacks from the faction as funds to operate his offices and expenses for socializing with his supporters. Thus, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office suspects that the kickbacks were used for the funeral money, the sources said Saturday.
Horii failed to report in political funds statements ¥21.96 million in kickbacks the faction paid to him by using revenues from fundraising parties between 2018 and 2022. He was suspended in April from LDP executive posts for a year as punishment, and was accused of violating the political funds control law the following month.
He quit the party after the funeral money scandal came to light last week.