Contradicting assertions from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a senior official of the Liberal Democratic Party said Friday that a ``funds-detour system'' was in place in the party to directly give donations to individual politicians.

This method has been criticized for hiding direct links between politicians and those making political donations.

But Hitoshi Motojuku, chief of the LDP's secretariat, told prosecutors that the system was set up within the party to get around the law, sources said.

Motojuku said he was involved in the first part of the process. He said he received donations from the Japan Dentists Federation (JDF) and deposited the funds into an account of the LDP's fund-managing body.

That money, along with other donations, was then transferred to LDP headquarters, according to the sources.

Another senior official withdrew the JDF amount from the account and distributed the money to influential LDP politicians previously specified by the dental group, sources said.

The roundabout way in which the money flowed made it appear the JDF was contributing to the LDP, not individual politicians.

Motojuku has not been charged for his involvement in the scheme, but his name emerged in a scandal involving political contributions made by the JDF.

Reports have already surfaced that the LDP's fund-managing body, the National Political Association, was used as a conduit for JDF funds to influential LDP politicians.

Motojuku agreed to answer questions about the case from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, sources said.

His statements to prosecutors run contrary to Koizumi's denial during a question and answer session in the Diet between party leaders on Nov. 17.

Katsuya Okada, leader of opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), asked Koizumi if there was a ``roundabout'' way in which donations were handled in the LDP.

Koizumi replied, ``There are no `detour' contributions.''

The ruling coalition has decided not to include a ban on the current donation-rerouting practice in a bill to revise the Political Fund Control Law.

But the issue is likely to become a subject of heated debate when the Diet reconvenes early next year, political analysts said.

Minshuto is expected to demand that LDP re-investigates the situation and summon Motojuku as a sworn witness in the Diet, analysts said.

Motojuku told prosecutors he ``did not remember'' the names of those who received the JDF money.

He also did not answer written questions sent to him from The Asahi Shimbun.

Hirotake Uchida, 64, a former dental federation director now on trial on charges that include violating the Political Fund Control Law, has said he took cash to LDP headquarters and told Motojuku which LDP lawmakers should receive the money, sources said.(IHT/Asahi: December 18,2004)