Japanese Prime Minister to Step Down as Faction Head Over Party Money Scandal - Reports

TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will step down as leader of the Kochikai faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) over a scandal involving years of concealing funds by party factions and bribing lawmakers, Japanese media reported Thursday.

Kishida intends to quit as faction leader while still serving as LDP president and holding the prime minister's post, the NHK broadcaster reported, citing sources. The formal purpose of his resignation is so he can assess what is happening in the party from a more impartial position.

Prior to the move, five LDP factions were criticized for allegedly underreporting income in political fund reports, and Kishida urged party members not to hold fundraising events for some time.

The special division of the Tokyo prosecutor's office is currently investigating the concealment of funds received by five factions of the ruling party from fundraising events. Tickets for these rallies are often purchased by Japanese businesses. By law, if the amount raised in a single evening exceeds 200,000 yen ($1,300), the names of the donors and the amounts must be recorded in the account book.

However, it turned out that the largest faction of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had amounts of several hundred million yen unspecified for five years. Moreover, further investigation revealed that if a politician collected more than the prescribed amount, they received a "kickback" for the excess. In Abe's faction, at least several dozen people received money this way, estimated to amount to tens of millions of yen.