Japanese prosecutors make their first arrest in the fundraising scandal sweeping the ruling party

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese prosecutors made their first arrest Sunday in connection with a major political slush fund scandal that has rocked Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s already unpopular government.

Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office said in a statement it apprehended former vice-education minister Yoshitaka Ikeda on suspicion of failing to report fundraising proceeds he received from his faction within the governing Liberal Democratic Party.

Ikeda’s faction, which used to be led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, has remained the largest and most influential within Kishida’s ruling party. The faction is suspected of failing to report more than 600 million yen ($4.15 million).

The former vice minister is suspected of not reporting the extra money he received from political event ticket sales from his faction, a violation of the political funds control law. He allegedly falsified the compulsory report of his political funds’ management organization and excluded more than 48 million yen (about $332,000) over the five years from 2018 to 2022, by colluding with his aide, the prosecutors’ office said.

The sum was quite large compared with the 10 million yen (nearly $69,140) allegedly received by each of several others implicated in the scandal.

Ikeda’s aide, Kazuhiro Kakinuma, was also arrested Sunday. Prosecutors said they arrested the pair to keep them from destroying evidence, local media reported.

Kishida said Sunday the arrest was “extremely regrettable” and that the party has decided to expel Ikeda. He reiterated that he took the matter seriously and he plans to set up an expert panel later this week to start discussing ways to strengthen fundraising regulations.

“We must have a