Media reports indicate that a member of parliament from Japan's ruling party was arrested today, Sunday, on suspicion of committing violations related to fundraising, marking the first arrest in a scandal that is harming the popularity of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. According to Japan's NHK Broadcasting Corporation and Kyodo News Agency, prosecutors in Tokyo arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, escalating the largest fundraising scandal that has surrounded Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for decades.
As per NHK's report, Ikeda received approximately 48 million yen (around $330,000), which is the largest undeclared donation received by a member of the faction previously led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which is at the center of this scandal. An individual answering the phone at the Tokyo prosecutor's office stated that no one was available for comment. The office had previously informed Reuters that it could not comment on any ongoing investigations.
There was no response to calls made to Ikeda's office in Tokyo and his base in central Japan. NHK broadcast footage showing a sign on Ikeda's office door indicating that it was temporarily closed. The scandal led to the resignation of prominent members from Abe's faction last month, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura.
Prosecutors suspect that Abe's faction concealed receiving funds totaling up to 500 million yen (approximately $3.5 million) over five years, while it is believed that the smaller Nikai faction concealed receiving 100 million yen, according to NHK reports. Prime Minister Kishida's popularity has declined to about 20 percent in mid-December, according to official media polls, marking the lowest level for any prime minister in over a decade.
