Prosecutors: Ozawa's side had 'final say'

Nishimatsu Construction Co. made illegal political donations to groups led by former opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa because his office had the final say on bid-rigging for public works contracts in the Tohoku region, prosecutors told a court Friday.

Prosecutors made the assertion during opening statements at the first Tokyo District Court hearing in the case against former Nishimatsu President Mikio Kunisawa.

Ozawa's office had so much clout over the construction industry that any directive issued by the politician's office was regarded as the "voice of heaven," prosecutors said.

The term is used in builders' bid-rigging circles to refer to the intentions of those who have decisive influence over picking a winner.

Prosecutors said Nishimatsu, a general contractor, disguised the donations at the instruction of Ozawa's office to "diversify" donors' names.

Kunisawa, 70, pleaded guilty to charges he donated 5 million yen to three political groups led by the former Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) leader via two dummy groups in 2006.

He also admitted to secretly bringing 70 million yen into Japan from an overseas slush fund, which was allegedly used to help the company win contracts.

Prosecutors sought an 18-month prison term for Kunisawa for violating the Political Fund Control Law and the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law.

They sought a six-month term for Keiji Fujimaki, 68, a former Nishimatsu executive.

Prosecutors used the hearing to explain the influence that Ozawa's office allegedly wielded in bid-rigging decisions and how Nishimatsu won contracts after funneling secret donations.

The arguments by prosecutors came as a rebuttal to public criticism that they had unfairly interfered in politics by arresting and indicting a key aide to Ozawa last March as speculation raged that a Lower House election loomed.

Takanori Okubo, 48, has denied charges he falsified political fund reports of Ozawa's political fund management group Rikuzankai to conceal illegal donations from Nishimatsu.

The accusations against the state-paid aide led to Ozawa's resignation as Minshuto president in May.

According to prosecutors, Ozawa's office began to intervene in bid-rigging in Iwate Prefecture in the 1980s.

In 1995, Nishimatsu concluded it must up its donations to Ozawa's side if it wanted to win more contracts in Iwate Prefecture, prosecutors said. The company contributed 13 million yen that year. In 1996, a consortium it had set up won a tunnel construction contract worth 2.5 billion yen.

Prosecutors told the court that in 1997, the company reached an agreement with Ozawa's office to annually contribute 25 million yen to several entities.

Around that year, the influence of Ozawa's office began to be felt in Akita Prefecture, which led Nishimatsu and other builders to make donations via their subcontractors in the two prefectures, they said.

Prosecutors said Ozawa's office also told Nishimatsu to try to ensure that its "huge donations do not attract the public's attention."

The request, along with political fund law revisions to ban corporate donations to individual politicians, prompted Nishimatsu around 2000 to use dummy groups headed by retired employees, prosecutors said.

Also around that year, Okubo emerged as someone to be reckoned with at Ozawa's office. He instructed Nishimatsu on the amount of donations to be made to different groups, according to prosecutors.

Between 1996 and 2003, consortiums involving Nishimatsu won four public works contracts worth 12.2 billion yen in Iwate and Akita prefectures.

"Ozawa's office determined winners of public works contracts in Iwate and Akita prefectures," prosecutors quoted Kunisawa as telling them. "(The donations were) intended to win Ozawa's favor."

Apparently aware that rashly responding to prosecutors' accusations would fuel negative images of their party, Minshuto executives shied away from commenting on the trial.

Prosecutors are also investigating suspicions that Nishimatsu made similar donations to a Liberal Democratic Party branch headed by industry minister Toshihiro Nikai.

Prosecution sources said the investigation is proceeding slowly because they are "cautiously examining" the evidence.(IHT/Asahi: June 20,2009)