TOKYO, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Former Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka was indicted Sunday for his alleged role in failing to report a $0.9 million political donation.
The scandal, involving an unreported donation from a dental association to a faction of the Liberal Democratic Party in 2001, has already implicated at least two other people.
Muraoka, then a senior member of the faction led by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, allegedly violated the Political Fund Control Law by advising the treasurer not to log the donation in the annual political fund report.
The treasurer, Toshiyuki Takigawa, who has also been indicted, told investigators that Muraoka told him to keep the fund under wraps.
The 73-year-old Muraoka, now retired, was not taken into custody, though his home was searched for evidence Saturday. He categorically denied the charges, calling them "groundless and unjust," the Asahi Shimbun reported Monday.
