A political party branch headed by farm minister Shin Takebe, 56, failed to record about ¥850,000 in grants it paid to affiliated groups, according to reporting by Shukan Bunshun. The omissions may amount to false entries in violation of the Political Funds Control Act.
The discrepancy is the third allegation to surface around Takebe since he took office. He has already corrected and apologized for a political funds report over an illegal donation allegation from the 2024 lower house election, which Shukan Bunshun reported.
He also amended an election campaign expense report over an allegation of vote buying, after the campaign paid a freelance photographer ¥860,000 during the same election.
Grants to three local branches
The Liberal Democratic Party's Hokkaido No. 12 district branch, which Takebe represents, paid grants repeatedly between 2022 and 2024 to local branches in its constituency that carry the name "LDP [town] branch."
The filings of the paying branch and the receiving branches do not match. In Omu, the local branch's political funds report lists ¥300,000 received on February 14, 2023, and ¥80,000 on October 6 that year, ¥380,000 in total.
The No. 12 branch's own report records the October payment but not the February one.
In Tsubetsu, the local branch's report shows a ¥260,000 grant received from the No. 12 branch dated May 26, 2022. The No. 12 branch's report records a payment to Tsubetsu on the same date, but puts it at ¥240,000, a ¥20,000 gap.
The Rubeshibe branch in Kitami shows a mismatch every year. The No. 12 branch paid it ¥250,000 in 2022 and ¥240,000 in each of 2023 and 2024, ¥730,000 in total.
The Rubeshibe branch's report lists no grant from the No. 12 branch for 2022, and only ¥195,600 across 2023 and 2024. The gap comes to about ¥530,000.