Japan prosecutors arrest ex-vice foreign minister in bribery case linked to wind power company
Tokyo prosecutors say they have arrested a former vice foreign minister of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet on suspicion of accepting more than 61 million yen ($414,000) in bribes from a wind power company in return for his promotion of wind powe...
TOKYO — Tokyo prosecutors said Thursday they have arrested the former vice foreign minister of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet on suspicion of accepting more than 61 million yen ($414,000) in bribes from a wind power company in return for his promotion of wind power and other favorable treatment.
Masatoshi Akimoto, 48, was arrested on suspicion of accepting the bribes, including 30 million yen ($204,000) in cash at his parliamentary office, from a wind power company executive on several occasions between February 2019 and June this year, prosecutors said.
Akimoto had stepped down as vice foreign minister and left Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party in August after allegations surfaced and prosecutors raided his office as part of their bribery investigation.
Akimoto has advocated promotion of renewable energy and urged the government during parliamentary sessions in 2019 not to heavily regulate the waters off the coast of Aomori where the company, Japan Wind Development Co., was bidding for offshore wind power projects, Kyodo News agency reported.
Akimoto is suspected of receiving 30 million yen in cash as loans without interest or collateral around March 2019 from the windfarm executive in return for asking questions in ways to benefit the company, the prosecutors’ office said in a statement.
He allegedly received another 31 million yen ($210,500) in connection to a racehorse owner's group between October 2021 and June this year. He took the money for
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