Tokyo, January 16: Investigators probing a funding scandal involving Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, have arrested a lawmaker over accounting irregularities.
Prosecutors on Friday arrested Tomohiro Ishikawa, 36, a lawmaker from Japan’s ruling party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), further damaging the troubled government and its political kingpin.
Hatoyama expressed dismay at the arrest of Ishikawa. “I want to monitor the situation since I have no knowledge about the investigation,” he said.
The arrest came two days after a special investigation unit from the Tokyo district prosecutors office raided offices related to Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ secretary general.
Ishikawa is held over accounting irregularities at a political funding group run by Ozawa, Tokyo prosecutors said in a brief statement.
The arrest took place on the eve of the DPJ’s annual convention while the Diet (Japan’s parliament) is set to convene for a 150-day session from Monday as the opposition steps up attacks against the government.
——–Agencies