By Ben Kerrigan-
Japan’s finance ministry has admitted doctoring documents in a widening scandal linked to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wife which has rattled his government and caused a slide in support.
The scandal linking Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the sale of publicly owned land to a nationalist private school operator popped up again after 14 documents were found to have been altered by the Finance Ministry. It was discovered that the name of Abe’s wife, Akie, appeared in the original documents but was deleted. The revelations pose a growing threat to the leader’s legislative agenda and grip on power
An in-house probe by the ministry discovered the doctoring had taken place after February 2017 -when the issue first grabbed political and national attention. The extrapolation made was that they had been purposely altered to make them consistent with responses to Diet questions on the matter. The names of four lawmakers were also shockingly removed from the documents
Mr Abe was apologetic on behalf of ministry officials but did not mention his wife Akie Abe or her suspected role in the scandal.
He said: “People are looking critically at the developments, and I take it seriously.”
The PM also promised to pursue a thorough investigation into the issue.The altered documents relate to the 2016 sale of state land to school operator Moritomo Gakuen in Osaka at one-seventh of the appraised value, with the alleged involvement of Mrs Abe, who supported the school’s ultra-nationalistic education policy.
An investigation by the ministry revealed contacts from Mrs Abe and several conservative MPs over the school plan, but did not make it clear if any law was violated. The scandal first surfaced a year ago and reemerged after evidence the ministry had altered records was unearthed. It is an embarrassment to the japanese Government
Finance minister Taro Aso said the investigation found 14 altered documents. The changes were made from February to April last year at the instruction of the Financial Bureau, the ministry department in charge of state property transactions said.
Mr Aso said the documents were falsified to match explanations that an official in charge of the land deal, Nobuhisa Sagawa, provided to parliament in response to opposition MPs’ questions.
Mr Sagawa was later promoted to National Tax Agency chief in what is being condemned but described as a reward for stonewalling the questioning. Mr.Aso resigned last Friday to take responsibility for his replies, and another official linked to the scandal reportedly killed himself. Mr Sagawa also acknowledged destroying documents.