ID :
122873
Wed, 05/19/2010 - 07:07
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https://www.oananews.org//node/122873
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Ozawa`s indictment unlikely as ex-aides deny conspiracy
TOKYO, May 18 Kyodo -
Prosecutors began considering Tuesday dropping a case again against Democratic
Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa after getting no new evidence
from him or his former aides over his funds management body's alleged false
reporting of political funds, sources familiar with the matter said.
After Ozawa denied his involvement Saturday, both Tomohiro Ishikawa and
Takanori Okubo, indicted in the case as his former secretaries, denied
conspiracy with him during questioning on Monday and Tuesday respectively by
prosecutors, who reopened the case to get a decision by the end of May.
Even if the prosecutors again decide not to indict the ruling party kingpin,
however, an independent judicial panel may take a second look into the
decision, most likely before the House of Councillors election expected for
July.
If the panel for the second time decides in favor of indictment, a team of
court-appointed lawyers will act as prosecutors and file criminal charges
against Ozawa, according to the inquest of prosecution law.
Okubo, 48, submitted himself to prosecutors on a voluntary basis for
re-questioning following the panel's decision April 27 that Ozawa warrants
indictment on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Law by
conspiring with the false reporting in 2004 and 2005.
The former state-funded secretary to Ozawa, who is regarded as the ruling
party's most powerful figure, played a principal role among aides as a person
in charge of accounting at the funds management body, called Rikuzankai.
Meanwhile, Ishikawa, 36, who is now a House of Representatives member, is
likely to question during his trial the credibility of a statement taken by
prosecutors that he briefed and consulted with Ozawa before filing one of the
body's funds reports in question, for 2004, other sources close to the case
said.
The statement, put on record by the prosecutors during Ishikawa's questioning
after his arrest in January, was taken by the citizens panel as ''direct
evidence'' that strongly indicates the existence of a conspiracy between Ozawa
and Ishikawa.
Ishikawa's side is expected to argue during the trial that the statement
includes no specific date or details to support the idea of a conspiracy, the
sources said.
Last Saturday, investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office
questioned Ozawa for a third time and questioned Ishikawa, who belonged to the
DPJ until his indictment, on Monday.
In February, the prosecutors decided not to charge Ozawa, citing a lack of
evidence after questioning him twice on Jan. 23 and 31. They only brought
charges against Ishikawa, Okubo and another former secretary, Mitsutomo Ikeda.
According to the indictment of the former secretaries, they failed to list 400
million yen of funds Rikuzankai borrowed from Ozawa in the group's 2004 report
and the same amount of money repaid to him in the 2007 report.
They also failed to list the 352 million yen spent to purchase Tokyo land in
the 2004 report and erroneously entered the expenditure of the same amount in
the 2005 report, according to the prosecutors.
In the April 27 decision, the Tokyo No. 5 Committee for the Inquest of
Prosecution noted in voting in favor of Ozawa's indictment that Ishikawa told
prosecutors that he reported to and consulted with Ozawa before filing the 2004
funds report.
It also cited Ikeda's deposition to prosecutors that he briefed Ozawa and
obtained his endorsement before submitting the 2005 funds reports.
Ozawa has acknowledged loaning 400 million yen to the fund management body in
2004 but has denied any involvement in the alleged misreporting. He has also
categorically denied receiving reports or being consulted by the former
secretaries.
Separately, Okubo is charged with falsely reporting 35 million yen in donations
that the Rikuzankai and the DPJ branch headed by Ozawa received from
construction contractor Nishimatsu Construction Co. between 2003 and 2006 from
political organizations, a violation of the political funds control law. Okubo
has pleaded not guilty.
==Kyodo
Prosecutors began considering Tuesday dropping a case again against Democratic
Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa after getting no new evidence
from him or his former aides over his funds management body's alleged false
reporting of political funds, sources familiar with the matter said.
After Ozawa denied his involvement Saturday, both Tomohiro Ishikawa and
Takanori Okubo, indicted in the case as his former secretaries, denied
conspiracy with him during questioning on Monday and Tuesday respectively by
prosecutors, who reopened the case to get a decision by the end of May.
Even if the prosecutors again decide not to indict the ruling party kingpin,
however, an independent judicial panel may take a second look into the
decision, most likely before the House of Councillors election expected for
July.
If the panel for the second time decides in favor of indictment, a team of
court-appointed lawyers will act as prosecutors and file criminal charges
against Ozawa, according to the inquest of prosecution law.
Okubo, 48, submitted himself to prosecutors on a voluntary basis for
re-questioning following the panel's decision April 27 that Ozawa warrants
indictment on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Law by
conspiring with the false reporting in 2004 and 2005.
The former state-funded secretary to Ozawa, who is regarded as the ruling
party's most powerful figure, played a principal role among aides as a person
in charge of accounting at the funds management body, called Rikuzankai.
Meanwhile, Ishikawa, 36, who is now a House of Representatives member, is
likely to question during his trial the credibility of a statement taken by
prosecutors that he briefed and consulted with Ozawa before filing one of the
body's funds reports in question, for 2004, other sources close to the case
said.
The statement, put on record by the prosecutors during Ishikawa's questioning
after his arrest in January, was taken by the citizens panel as ''direct
evidence'' that strongly indicates the existence of a conspiracy between Ozawa
and Ishikawa.
Ishikawa's side is expected to argue during the trial that the statement
includes no specific date or details to support the idea of a conspiracy, the
sources said.
Last Saturday, investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office
questioned Ozawa for a third time and questioned Ishikawa, who belonged to the
DPJ until his indictment, on Monday.
In February, the prosecutors decided not to charge Ozawa, citing a lack of
evidence after questioning him twice on Jan. 23 and 31. They only brought
charges against Ishikawa, Okubo and another former secretary, Mitsutomo Ikeda.
According to the indictment of the former secretaries, they failed to list 400
million yen of funds Rikuzankai borrowed from Ozawa in the group's 2004 report
and the same amount of money repaid to him in the 2007 report.
They also failed to list the 352 million yen spent to purchase Tokyo land in
the 2004 report and erroneously entered the expenditure of the same amount in
the 2005 report, according to the prosecutors.
In the April 27 decision, the Tokyo No. 5 Committee for the Inquest of
Prosecution noted in voting in favor of Ozawa's indictment that Ishikawa told
prosecutors that he reported to and consulted with Ozawa before filing the 2004
funds report.
It also cited Ikeda's deposition to prosecutors that he briefed Ozawa and
obtained his endorsement before submitting the 2005 funds reports.
Ozawa has acknowledged loaning 400 million yen to the fund management body in
2004 but has denied any involvement in the alleged misreporting. He has also
categorically denied receiving reports or being consulted by the former
secretaries.
Separately, Okubo is charged with falsely reporting 35 million yen in donations
that the Rikuzankai and the DPJ branch headed by Ozawa received from
construction contractor Nishimatsu Construction Co. between 2003 and 2006 from
political organizations, a violation of the political funds control law. Okubo
has pleaded not guilty.
==Kyodo
