Japanese prosecutors are expanding investigation into allegations of corruption in the casino business, which is one of the key policies of the Abe administration.

Following the controversy over the privatization of the cherry blossom viewing gathering hosted by the government, allegations of corruption around the complex resort (IR) business, which includes casinos, are likely to be detrimental to the Abe regime.

The Tokyo District Prosecutors' Office arrested a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Akimoto Tsukasa, last month on suspicion of receiving bribes from a Chinese company related to the casino business, and five other members of the House of Representatives also received money and confirmed their recent facts. The voluntary investigation, NHK reported.

A former adviser at a Chinese company, 500.com, arrested on bribery charges, said in September 2017 that he gave 3 million yen to Senator Akimoto and 1 million yen to the remaining five members at the same time. Is said to remain.

Four of the five members of the House of Representatives, Takeshi Iwaya, former Minister of Justice, Masahisa Miyazaki, Hiroyuki Nakamura, and Toshimatsu Funahashi, who served as Deputy Minister of Justice (Minister of Justice), belong to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The other one is Representative Mikio Shimoji of the Japan Restoration Association.

Of the five, four except for Iwaya, Hokkaido and Okinawa Prefecture, where 500.com aimed to participate in the casino business, are local districts.

Three members, including Iwaya, served as a member of the parliamentary federation to promote the casino business.

In the Political Fund Report, the Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Senator Nakamura, received a donation of 2 million yen in 2017 from a tourist company in Hokkaido, which aimed to participate in the casino business along with 500.com, of which 1 million were represented by Iwaya. The NHK said it had donated to the LDP branch in Los Angeles.

Japan's Political Fund Regulations prohibit foreign or foreign corporations from contributing political funds, and Tokyo's Special Prosecutors' Office suspects that 500.com provided this kind of money to avoid any violation of the law.

Rep. Iwaya told a press conference, "I have not received any money from 500 companies."

The remaining three Liberal Democrats also denied receiving 500.com, and Shimoji, a member of the Japan Restoration Association, said, "We are investigating the facts and will explain them next week."

If the doubts surrounding the casino business turn out to be true, it will spread to the Abe regime's morality controversy.

Aware of this, Mr. Kimishi Fumio, Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters, "It is important for the politicians themselves to be responsible for explaining the casino business suspicion."

Opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party, are expected to focus on suspicions surrounding the casino business, as well as the controversy over the cherry blossom viewing meeting.