Prosecutors considering questioning Ozawa as suspect

TOKYO, Jan. 22 Kyodo -
Prosecutors are considering treating Democratic Party of Japan Secretary
General Ichiro Ozawa as a suspect when questioning him on a voluntary basis
Saturday over his political fund management body's alleged accounting
irregularities in 2004, investigative sources said Friday.
The prosecutors initially planned to question Ozawa on a voluntary basis as a
witness, but could now change their approach given that a criminal complaint
has been filed by a citizens' group against him, while they also aim eventually
to bring a criminal charge against him.
In that case, investigators at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office,
who will carry out the unusual questioning of a top ruling party official, will
take down a statement from the accused after telling Ozawa of his right to
silence, the sources said.
The statement would be taken on the condition that the suspect can refuse to
submit to interrogation at any time. It would not be legal to take such a
statement from someone being questioned simply as a witness.
The prosecutors plan to grill Ozawa for about four hours Saturday evening on
suspicion he received a report about the accounting irregularities related to
the fund body Ritsuzankai's 2004 purchase of land in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, the
sources said.
Two of Ozawa's former secretaries, including Tomohiro Ishikawa, who is now a
House of Representatives member of the DPJ, and current aide Takanori Okubo
were arrested last week over the allegation that the body failed to report 400
million yen used for the land deal in its 2004 report.
As Ozawa's private secretary, Ishikawa, 36, was in charge of the 352 million
yen land deal dated Oct. 29, 2004, and has told investigators that he had
consulted with state-funded secretary Okubo, 48, in borrowing 400 million yen
from Ozawa for the deal, sources said earlier.
Ishikawa has also suggested that he informed Ozawa of the alleged cover-up of
the 400 million yen in a confession taken by the prosecutors to indicate
Ozawa's awareness of the irregularities, the sources said.
The prosecutors also suspect the funds for the land purchase include 50 million
yen in off-the-book donations from midsize contractor Mizutani Construction
Co., which people linked to the Kuwana, Mie Prefecture-based firm have told the
investigators was given to Ishikawa in October 2004.
Mizutani is a subcontractor in a dam project in the northeastern Japan city of
Oshu in Ozawa's constituency in Iwate Prefecture, for which a public bidding
was held in October 2004.
Ozawa, a powerful politician, is believed to have had a strong influence over
the selection of companies for public works projects in the region.
People close to Ozawa's side said, however, the resources for the land deal
came from funds Ozawa had inherited from his father and his other personal
assets, such as royalty income.
Ozawa had about 400 million yen in cash in October 2004, including the roughly
300 million yen he had withdrawn from a trust bank account and kept at home,
they said.
==Kyodo