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103659
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 23:24
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https://www.oananews.org//node/103659
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3 Iwate dam contractors questioned over Ozawa funds scandal
TOKYO, Jan. 30 Kyodo -
Prosecutors have questioned executives of three contractors involved in a dam
project in Iwate Prefecture over alleged accounting irregularities at
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's fund management
body, sources close to the case said Saturday.
The executives questioned as witnesses on a voluntary basis included the
75-year-old chairman of Kajima Corp., whose offices were raided earlier this
month in connection with the case, a 73-year-old top adviser to Taisei Corp.
and an executive of Shimizu Corp., the sources said.
The investigators of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office are believed
to have asked the executives about the decisive clout wielded by Ozawa's office
in determining the winners of local public works projects, known as ''voice
from heaven,'' and whether they provided funds to the Ozawa side.
A joint venture formed by Kajima, Shimizu and Ohmoto Gumi Co. won the bid for a
project to build the main structure of Isawa Dam in Ozawa's constituency in
October 2004, while a Taisei, Kumagai Gumi Co. and Hazama Corp. venture won the
contract for collecting aggregate for the dam in March 2005.
Both the chairman of Kajima and the top adviser to Taisei headed their
respective companies at the time.
A former president of Mizutani Construction Co., a subcontractor in both
projects, has reportedly told the prosecutors that the Kuwana, Mie
Prefecture-based firm gave a total of 100 million yen -- 50 million yen each in
October 2004 and April 2005 -- to aides of Ozawa who have been arrested.
The prosecutors suspect that an unreported 400 million yen was used by Ozawa'S
Rikuzankai fund management body to buy land in Tokyo in October 2004, including
the 50 million yen allegedly provided by Mizutani the same month.
Former and current secretaries of Ozawa who were arrested earlier this month on
suspicion of failing to report the 400 million yen in the body's 2004 political
fund report have denied receiving the money, sources said earlier.
During the trial of Ozawa's current aide, Takanori Okubo, over funds received
from Nishimatsu Construction Co., prosecutors have argued that Ozawa's office
used its clout to award public works projects in Iwate and neighboring Akita
prefectures until the construction industry declared a break with bid rigging
at the end of 2005.
The chairman of Kajima headed the Japan Civil Engineering Contractors
Association Inc., an industry group, from April 1998 to April 2005 and was
succeeded by the top adviser to Taisei, who served until April last year.
==Kyodo
Prosecutors have questioned executives of three contractors involved in a dam
project in Iwate Prefecture over alleged accounting irregularities at
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's fund management
body, sources close to the case said Saturday.
The executives questioned as witnesses on a voluntary basis included the
75-year-old chairman of Kajima Corp., whose offices were raided earlier this
month in connection with the case, a 73-year-old top adviser to Taisei Corp.
and an executive of Shimizu Corp., the sources said.
The investigators of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office are believed
to have asked the executives about the decisive clout wielded by Ozawa's office
in determining the winners of local public works projects, known as ''voice
from heaven,'' and whether they provided funds to the Ozawa side.
A joint venture formed by Kajima, Shimizu and Ohmoto Gumi Co. won the bid for a
project to build the main structure of Isawa Dam in Ozawa's constituency in
October 2004, while a Taisei, Kumagai Gumi Co. and Hazama Corp. venture won the
contract for collecting aggregate for the dam in March 2005.
Both the chairman of Kajima and the top adviser to Taisei headed their
respective companies at the time.
A former president of Mizutani Construction Co., a subcontractor in both
projects, has reportedly told the prosecutors that the Kuwana, Mie
Prefecture-based firm gave a total of 100 million yen -- 50 million yen each in
October 2004 and April 2005 -- to aides of Ozawa who have been arrested.
The prosecutors suspect that an unreported 400 million yen was used by Ozawa'S
Rikuzankai fund management body to buy land in Tokyo in October 2004, including
the 50 million yen allegedly provided by Mizutani the same month.
Former and current secretaries of Ozawa who were arrested earlier this month on
suspicion of failing to report the 400 million yen in the body's 2004 political
fund report have denied receiving the money, sources said earlier.
During the trial of Ozawa's current aide, Takanori Okubo, over funds received
from Nishimatsu Construction Co., prosecutors have argued that Ozawa's office
used its clout to award public works projects in Iwate and neighboring Akita
prefectures until the construction industry declared a break with bid rigging
at the end of 2005.
The chairman of Kajima headed the Japan Civil Engineering Contractors
Association Inc., an industry group, from April 1998 to April 2005 and was
succeeded by the top adviser to Taisei, who served until April last year.
==Kyodo
