The accounting person in charge of the former Nikai faction of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party was sentenced due to a dirty money scandal

On September 10 local time, the Tokyo District Court of Japan handed down a judgment on Nagai and others, the accounting person in charge of the former "Nikai faction" of the Liberal Democratic Party. The court determined that Nagai and others had false records in the political fund report of this faction, violating the "Political Funds Control Law." They were sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for five years. Nagai and others admitted the content of the indictment.

It is reported that between 2018 and 2022, Nagai and others did not record revenue and expenditure items including the faction's "political fund party vouchers" and rebates to lawmakers, with a total amount of about 380 million yen.

Last November, a "dirty money" scandal broke out within the Liberal Democratic Party. Multiple factions were accused of setting sales targets for subordinate members of parliament and requiring them to sell political fundraising party vouchers. The excess funds beyond the sales targets were returned to lawmakers in the form of "kickbacks" and were not registered in the faction's revenue and expenditure reports and lawmakers' political fund revenue and expenditure reports, forming unregulated secret funds. This scandal continued to ferment, leading to the dissolution of factions such as the "Kishida faction," "Abe faction," and "Nikai faction" within the Liberal Democratic Party. In this "dirty money" incident, a total of 11 people including lawmakers and accounting persons in charge of the "Abe faction," "Nikai faction," and "Kishida faction" have been placed on file.

The "dirty money" scandal has had a huge impact on Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, seriously damaging its image and the public's trust in political parties. This incident has also attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society, and there are continuous calls from the public for a thorough investigation and holding relevant people accountable. This judgment result is undoubtedly an important staged handling of this scandal. The follow-up related matters and its impact on Japan's political ecology will still receive continuous attention.