Former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Takamori Yoshikawa has been charged with bribery by the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office for bribery of 5 million yen in cash from the former representative of the major chicken egg production company "Akita Foods", Yoshinori Akita. it was done.
We have summarized the history of the investigation and the composition of the case.
The content of the indictment is
Of the cash that seems to have been provided to former Minister Yoshikawa, the Special Investigation Department has determined that a total of 5 million yen in cash received from former representative Akita during his tenure as minister will be a bribe.
Former Minister Yoshikawa served as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the 4th Abe Remodeling Cabinet from October 2018 to September 2018, but on November 21, 2018 while he was in office, he was 2 million yen at a hotel in Tokyo. It means that he received 2 million yen in the ministerial office on March 26th and 1 million yen in the ministerial office on August 2nd.
When handing over these cash, former representative Akita, who was a leading figure in the poultry industry group, opposed the draft international standard for livestock breeding environment as the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and stated the loan conditions of the government-affiliated Japan Finance Corporation. It means that he had directly asked former Minister Yoshikawa to ease the situation.
Former representative Akita responded to the investigation by the Special Investigation Department, saying, "We provided cash before and after the ministerial appointment, and gave cash of 1 to 2 million yen two or three times a year for the six years up to last year. Former Minister Yoshikawa. The total amount of cash given to the minister is 18 million yen. "However, the Special Investigation Department has recognized that the 5 million yen received during his tenure as the minister is a bribe for the minister's duties and is at home. I was charged.
Violation of Political Funds Control Act
Former representative Akita was indicted at home for bribery of 5 million yen in cash and for violating the Political Funds Control Act.
It seems that the party ticket for the political fund party held in August by the political organization of former Minister Yoshikawa was actually purchased by the company, but it was purchased under the name of 15 people including employees. In addition to pretending to be, Katsuyuki Kawai, the former Minister of Justice's Liberal Democratic Party branch and supporters' association, bought a party ticket for the political fund party held in February for 2.34 million yen under the name of 12 employees. I am accused of pretending to be a crime.
The Political Funds Control Act prohibits purchases in excess of 1.5 million yen or in the name of another person at a single political fund party, and for groups and individuals who purchase party tickets in excess of 200,000 yen, their names and amounts. It is obligatory to include such information in the income and expenditure report.
Former representative Akita is believed to have been performing camouflage work pretending to be a purchase of 200,000 yen or less per person, which is not mentioned in the report, in order to hide the connection between the company and the former ministers.
The purpose of the bribe is
Former representative Akita is a leading figure in the poultry industry group, and the Special Investigation Department believes that the purpose of providing cash to former Minister Yoshikawa was to facilitate at least two issues facing the industry.
Animal welfare
One of them is the response to the draft standard for livestock breeding environment established by an international organization from the viewpoint of animal welfare called "animal welfare".
"Animal welfare" is a concept that aims for a breeding environment that is less painful and stressful for livestock, and is said to be of great interest to consumers, especially in the region of the EU = European Union.
The OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), which is an international organization headquartered in Paris and a member of Japan, is developing international standards for livestock breeding environments that reflect the "animal welfare", and in September 2018, In consideration of chicken habits, we presented member countries with a draft standard that requires the installation of "birdhouses" and "perches".
However, in the Japanese poultry industry, "cage breeding" is the mainstream of breeding in cages, so large-scale facility renovation is required to comply with the draft standard, leading to a significant cost increase. That was a concern.
For this reason, on November 12, 2018, the Japan Chicken Breeding Association, an industry group, urged former Minister Yoshikawa, who was incumbent at the time, to oppose the draft standard, saying, "It will have a big impact on Japanese egg producers." It means that he submitted the request form and former representative Akita was also present.
On November 21, nine days later, former representative Akita met with former Minister Yoshikawa at a hotel in Tokyo, handed over 2 million yen in cash, and requested again that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries oppose the draft standard.
On this day, former Minister Yoshikawa replied at the House of Representatives Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Committee that he would like to promote animal welfare with the understanding of producers.
Two months later, in January, the Japanese government disagreed with the mandatory installation of "perches" and "birdhouses," saying that "the cracks and stains on eggs will increase and the mortality rate of chickens will increase." I submitted it to.
Then, in the amendment proposed by the OIE in September, the mandatory installation of "perches" was postponed, and the dissenting opinions from Japan and other countries were reflected.
The Special Investigation Department believes that the 2 million yen in cash given to the minister's office in March was also intended to be a reward for responding to the draft international standards and to continue to provide convenience.
On the other hand, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries told NHK that "OIE's draft standard has a large impact on the Japanese poultry industry, so it is natural to oppose it, and we changed the policy in response to a request from an industry group. Not. "
Japan Finance Corporation loan
Another challenge is financing for poultry farmers.
When former representative Akita handed over 1 million yen in cash to former minister Yoshikawa in the minister's office in August, he said, "I want the poultry industry to be easier to borrow" regarding the loan from the government-affiliated financial institution "Japan Finance Corporation". It means that I was requesting it.
Japan Finance Corporation is a financial institution that is wholly owned by the government and finances small and medium-sized enterprises and producers in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is in charge of operations related to the fields of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
According to JFC, there are "Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Safety Net Funds" that producers can borrow when the business condition deteriorates due to changes in the external environment such as infectious diseases such as bird flu and typhoon disasters, but they are individual. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is not involved in whether or not to lend, and the JFC decides.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries designs the system, such as loan items in the field of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
The Japan Finance Corporation told NHK that "there are no requests or inquiries from former Minister Yoshikawa to make it easier to obtain loans to the poultry industry."
Why not arrest and prosecute at home
The need for arrest is determined by comprehensively considering the suspect's age and physical condition, as well as the risk of escape and destruction of evidence.
When former Minister Yoshikawa announced his resignation as a member of the House of Representatives on the 21st of last month, he said, "I am currently undergoing hospitalization for chronic heart failure due to myocardial infarction that I suffered two and a half years ago, but I will undergo surgery soon. It was decided. "
According to the people concerned, former Minister Yoshikawa actually underwent surgery after that.
In addition, former Minister Yoshikawa admitted that he received a voluntary interview with the Special Investigation Department at the end of last year while he was in the hospital, gave and received 5 million yen as a bribe, and received cash before and after his tenure as minister. I used a part of it as a meeting fee. "
On the other hand, former Minister Yoshikawa explained that "the former representative unilaterally left the cash on the desk", and even for the bribe of 5 million yen, "funds to support the minister's inauguration and political activities" I thought it was, "he said, denying the recognition that cash was a bribe.
For this reason, the Special Investigation Department seems to have considered the necessity of arresting former Minister Yoshikawa, but considering that former Minister Yoshikawa was hospitalized and underwent surgery, the risk of escape is low and he is not detained. Even if he was charged at home, it seems that he could prove the crime of bribery with the evidence obtained so far.
In addition, it seems that former Minister Yoshikawa reflected on the transfer of cash and resigned as a member of the House of Representatives.
Funding other politicians
According to the people concerned, former representative Akita has stated to the investigation by the Special Investigation Department that he has handed cash to former Minister Yoshikawa, former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and several members of the Diet.
Offering cash to former Minister Nishikawa
Of these, he stated to former Minister Nishikawa that he had been handing cash on a regular basis since 2014, immediately after he took office.
After losing the House of Representatives election, former Minister Nishikawa served as an advisor to the Cabinet Secretariat to give his opinion to the Prime Minister on the promotion of agriculture, forestry and fisheries from 2017 to last month, but former representative Akita also had the number of cash in the meantime. It is said that it provided one million yen.
Former Minister Nishikawa retired as a counselor on the 8th of last month after allegations of funding to former Minister Yoshikawa were reported, and the Special Investigation Department also voluntarily listened to the situation from former Minister Nishikawa. I investigated the circumstances of the provision of cash, but I resigned from the minister more than five years ago, because the statute of limitations for bribery charges has passed and the Special Advisor to the Cabinet is part-time and the authority of duties is not clear. It seems that it was difficult to ask for bribery charges.
NHK has asked former Minister Nishikawa's office multiple times in writing about whether or not to provide cash, but has not answered so far.
Parliamentary Vice-Minister Takuma Miyaji corrects report
Takuma Miyaji, a member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party, who serves as a general affairs affairs officer, has stated in the political fund balance report the donation of 500,000 yen received from former representative Akita in December 2017. I revised the report on the 8th of this month, saying it wasn't there.
Mr. Miyaji's office said, "In response to the problem of providing cash to former Minister Yoshikawa, as a result of examining the data recording past donations, I found a mistake in the description and corrected it. With former representative Akita through livestock promotion activities I got to know him, but I haven't worked on anything for the chicken industry. "
Liberal Democratic Party faction also corrected
The Liberal Democratic Party faction's political organization "Heisei Kenkyukai" also reported last month that it did not list the 300,000 yen in cash it received from former representative Akita for the political fund party three years ago in the political fund balance report. I corrected the book.
The "Heisei Kenkyukai" received 300,000 yen in cash from the former representative for the political fund party through the office of the member of the House of Councilors Tetsuro Nomura, who belongs to the faction.
Both the "Heisei Kenkyukai" and the office of Representative Nomura said, "There was a clerical mistake in confirming and reporting on the purchaser of the party ticket. I would like to try to prevent recurrence."
Background of the investigation
According to people familiar with the matter, the allegations over funding for former Minister Yoshikawa were discovered in the wake of an investigation into the election violations of former Minister of Justice Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife.
In July last year, the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office searched the head office of Akita Foods, which had made a large donation to the former Minister Kawai, as a related party to the election violation case of Mr. and Mrs. Kawai.
At that time, former representative Akita obtained notes and lists that suggest cash provision to multiple members of the Diet, including former Minister Yoshikawa.
For this reason, the Special Investigation Department stated that as a result of voluntarily hearing from former representative Akita, the former representative gave a total of 18 million yen in cash to former minister Yoshikawa during the six years up to last year, including his tenure as minister. is.
The Special Investigation Department and others check the schedule book of the former representative and the withdrawal record of the company to identify the date and amount of cash provision, and on the 25th of last month, former Minister Yoshikawa cashed from former representative Akita while he was in office. On suspicion of bribery, I searched the Diet Members' Office Building of former Minister Yoshikawa and the office of Akita City, and launched a forced investigation.
Meanwhile, former Minister Hajime Yoshikawa resigned from the party's post on the 2nd of last month when allegations of cash provision were reported, saying he did not want to bother parliamentary deliberation and party management.
Then, on the 22nd of last month, after revealing that he was undergoing surgery during hospitalization due to heart disease, he resigned as a member of the House of Representatives saying that it is difficult to fulfill his duties as a member of the Diet, and on the 13th he left the Liberal Democratic Party. I did.
What is Akita Zenji Defendant?
Former Akita Foods representative Zenji Akita is 87 years old.
After taking over the poultry farming business that his father started in 1945, he established the predecessor company of Akita Foods in 1966, engaged in full-scale egg production and sales business, and made Akita Foods one of the largest in the chicken egg industry in Japan. Has grown into a company.
He has served as vice chairman and special adviser to the Japan Poultry Industry Association, an industry group, and has served as a conduit to the political world and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for many years.
Five years ago, when I was interviewed by a specialized magazine in the food industry, the issues for the industry as a whole were deregulation of imports of vaccines and feeds used for chickens and enhancement of compensation for producers in the event of bird flu. He appealed for the need for response.
In addition, according to the video posted on the video posting site YouTube, former representative Akita appeared in the CM presentation of the brand egg to be sold as the top management three years ago in September, "pleasing consumers, please. I am reassured that I have gained support. "
Comments from Akita Foods
Regarding the indictment of former representative Zenji Akita at home, Akita Foods said, "I would like to express my deepest apologies for the greater concern and inconvenience caused. From now on, the entire group will work together. In keeping with the spirit of legal compliance, we will do our utmost to realize sound and sound corporate management. "
Expert "Lack of tension on political and financial issues"
Regarding the fact that former LDP ministers and deputy ministers have been caught one after another, Professor Tomoaki Iwai of the Faculty of Law, Nihon University, who is familiar with politics and money issues, said, "The LDP is very strong and the Abe administration has continued for a long time. It seems that politicians lacked tension on the issues of politics and money, and these issues began to occur in a straightforward manner. The ministers and deputy ministers may have been rather lenient about the prosecution and investigative authorities. I wonder if there is any. "
On top of that, "After the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office's evidence falsification case, there was criticism that the prosecution authorities had loosened their response to power in the Liberal Democratic Party's strengths and weaknesses. I think he is showing a positive attitude toward the prosecution of politicians with prestige. It is necessary to continue to respond to power in the future. "
Furthermore, regarding the fact that there are a series of non-statements in the political fund balance report, "the ruling party and the opposition party are not very willing to improve, and it seems that all politicians are neglecting the political fund system. The problem of money is the biggest cause of political distrust of the people, and it is necessary to fundamentally examine and review the political funding system in the wake of this incident. "