Japan LDP Member Reportedly Tried to Hide Membership Scandal

   Tokyo, Nov. 30 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Hiroaki Tabata registered people as party members without their permission and sought to cover up the misconduct, a person involved in the matter has said.
   Tabata, elected from Toyama Prefecture's No. 1 constituency to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's parliament, admitted at a press conference Friday night that his office had signed people up for LDP membership without their consent, including employees of two companies that support him.
   The lawmaker said that there were 262 inappropriately filed membership registrations, including of people who do not exist. But he denied personal involvement in the practice.
   One person who was unknowingly signed up for party membership, an executive at one of the supporting companies, told Jiji Press that he has received ballots for LDP presidential elections addressed to a stranger.
   The executive also said that after the misconduct came to light, Tabata asked him to fabricate a story together to cover it up.

(2024/11/30-17:56)

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