Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A lawmaker from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been arrested on bribery charges involving a Chinese gambling operator, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Officials charged Tsukasa Akimoto, 48, with accepting a $27,000 bribe from 500.com Ltd., which is based in Shenzhen, China. They said the lawmaker took the money in 2017 as the company sought to become one of the first gambling operators to enter Japan's newly legalized casino-resort market.