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Japanese civic group files criminal complaint against farm minister

Xinhua, July 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

A civic group filed a criminal complaint Tuesday against Japan's farm minister Hiroshi Moriyama for receiving 200,000 yen (1,949 U.S. dollars) in cash from a poultry farmers' association before assuming the post.

The Osaka-based group filed the complaint to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, saying that Moriyama and three other lawmakers each received 200,000 yen in cash from the Japan Poultry Association, which violated the Political Funds Control Law that bans making donations to individual politicians.

Moriyama admitted last month that he had received the money from Eizo Kuriki, head of the Japan Poultry Association, but said he had returned it.

The minister, who was head of the ruling LDP party's committee dealing with Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) issues when allegedly taking the money, said Kuriki presented him with an envelope containing money as a "parting gift" before he parted for the United States for TPP negotiations last September.

Moriyama, who assumed the ministerail post last October, said he had told his secretary to return the money, but the money was not returned until this February because the incident had been forgotten.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Moriyama returning the cash gift due to its unclear intended purpose was the correct procedure and as such the matter had been "handled appropriately."

The incident has come under the spotlight as the poultry association has received some 5.2 billion yen in subsidies from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry based on a decision in March 2015.

According to the Political Funds Control Law, entities and companies are not allowed to make donations linked to political activities within a year of receiving government subsidies except when the donations are "not coupled with interests."

The offices of two other lawmakers - former farm minister Koya Nishikawa and former senior vice farm minister Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi - also admitted receiving money from the poultry association, but said they have returned the money. Endit