TOKYO (TR) – Following the arrest of Nobuko Irie for allegedly paying campaigners within the House of Representatives election earlier this month, police have revealed that her confederate had requested the campaigners to not disclose the funds, studies Kyodo News (Feb. 21).
Tokyo Metropolitan Police consider that Irie, 63, and Kyoka Sugawara, 25, a consultant of a social networking website administration firm, paid a complete of greater than 10 individuals greater than 450,000 yen whereas realizing that this was unlawful.
The suspects have been accused of violating the Public Offices Election Act relating to bribery. In the newest improvement, investigators mentioned on Saturday that Sugawara had requested campaigners to not disclose their compensation.
Irie is a former Fuji TV worker who served two phrases as a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member. On February 8, she ran for the Democratic Party for the People in Tokyo’s seventh District. However, she misplaced her bid.
According to investigators, she requested Sugawara to recruit campaigners in January. Sugawara is believed to have recruited primarily interns at her administration firm at a every day wage of 10,000 yen. The money funds had been transferred to the corporate’s account by 63-year-old Yoshiko Sato, Irie’s marketing campaign accountant.
Following the arrest, the social gathering’s chief, Yuichiro Tamaki, posted on X, “If true, this is an extremely regrettable incident that undermines the fairness of the election. I apologize.”