Japan prosecutors arrest ex-vice foreign minister in bribery case linked to wind power company

Published September 7, 2023 7:09 AM

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo prosecutors say they have arrested a former vice foreign minister of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet on suspicion of accepting more than 61 million yen ($414,000) in bribes from a wind power company in return for his promotion of wind power and other favorable treatment. Prosecutors said Thursday that they arrested Masatoshi Akimoto for allegedly accepting the bribes including 30 million yen ($204,000) cash at his parliamentary office from a wind power company on several occasions between 2019 and this year. Akimoto denied the allegations. Officials in the regions promoting clean energy express worry that the scandal may hurt the image of renewables.

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