Japan’s finance ministry to admit altering documents for cut-price land sale linked to Abe cronyism scandal
The Osaka state-owned plot was sold at a much lower price to Moritomo Gakuen, a school operator with ties to the leader’s wife
Japan’s Finance Ministry will admit altering documents pertaining to a state-owned land sale at the centre of favouritism allegations against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, government sources said on Saturday.
The ministry plans to tell the Diet as soon as Monday that it has found several instances where content present in the original versions of the documents was removed later, the sources said.
The admission of the allegations, which were reported earlier this month by a major daily newspaper, is likely to cause further damage to Abe and fuel calls for Finance Minister Taro Aso to resign over the issue.
The scandal over the heavily discounted sale of land in Osaka Prefecture to Moritomo Gakuen, a school operator with ties to Abe’s wife, contributed to a decline in Abe’s public popularity last year before the doctoring allegations reignited the issue this month.
The ministry will consider disciplining officials involved in the land sale, both at the ministry’s headquarters in Tokyo and its Kinki bureau which covers the Osaka region, the sources said.
In addition to stoking opposition parties’ accusations of a cover-up by the Abe administration, the ministry’s admission could strengthen calls even within the ruling coalition for Abe and Aso to be held to account.
