Former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife denied any intention to resign after prosecutors searched their offices in Hiroshima on Wednesday over alleged law violations in her election.

Kawai, 56, and his 46-year-old wife Anri are suspected of having paid 13 female campaign announcers a daily allowance of 30,000 yen ($273), double the amount permitted by law, during the House of Councillors election campaign in July in which she won a seat, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The two lawmakers separately told reporters Wednesday night that they will not resign either as lawmakers or as members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

They said they are fully cooperating with the prosecutors' probes but declined to comment on the allegations while the criminal investigations are taking place.

"Even though I would like to give my explanation, the matter is being investigated as a criminal case and I should refrain from commenting on it," said the former justice minister who has not appeared in public for over two months.


(Katsuyuki Kawai (L) and Anri Kawai)

(Reporters gather in front of a building that houses an office of Anri Kawai in Hiroshima on Jan. 15, 2020.)

University professors and local voters have filed criminal complaints against the couple, while prosecutors have already started questioning those involved in the election campaign, the sources said.

Following the search, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference that the couple "need to be held accountable for their own actions."

Kawai resigned as justice minister in October after the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine reported the allegation online, while his wife submitted to the LDP a medical certificate stating she was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder and needs to rest for one month.

In another potential matter, a man who said he helped in Anri Kawai's election campaign told Kyodo News that a local LDP branch she headed paid him 860,000 yen for his role seeking support for her from local assembly members and voters. The election law bans election offices from rewarding such work.


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