The Lower House Budget Committee’s questioning of Junichiro Matsumoto — the former accountant of the Liberal Democratic Party faction once led by Shinzo Abe — on Thursday revealed little about the kickback scheme at the center of the slush funds scandal that dominated political debates last year.
Budget committee Chairman Jun Azumi told reporters that while Matsumoto did not reveal the name of the faction boss who instructed him to resume the kickback scheme in July 2022 following an initial halt ordered by Abe three months earlier, he admitted that the person is not a sitting lawmaker now.
Azumi added that Matsumoto — who was given a suspended three-year prison term last September — said he had little choice but to follow the politician’s orders.
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