Fergie's Tech Blog

Livedoor e-Mail Scandal Rattles Lawmakers

A UPI newswire article, via PhysOrg.com, reports that:

Is the e-mail real or is it a forgery? That is the question that has been the hottest topic for debate among Japanese legislators over the past week, ever since a member of the opposition party presented what he claimed was proof that a top ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker was accepting bribes.

The four-paragraph memo is allegedly from Takafumi Horie, chief executive of Internet portal group Livedoor, who was arrested last month on charges of cooking the company's books and deliberately misguiding investors on the true value of his company.

In the e-mail dated from last summer, the 33-year-old Horie states that his office should provide $253,380 (30 million yen) to the bank account of the son of LDP Secretary-General Tsutomu Takebe. In addition, the e-mail suggests that a similar payment previously had been made to the son.

posted by Fergie @ 2/23/2006 10:09:00 AM