Former Aichi Gov. Kanda Received Illegal Funds From Chubu Electric

 

A former director of Chubu Electric Power Co. told The Asahi Shimbun that it paid a total of 30 million yen ($296,000) from a slush fund to four gubernatorial candidates starting the 1980s and ending in the 2000s.

Aichi Prefecture’s former governor Masaaki Kanda has acknowledged he received a political donation from Chubu Electric, one of several regional utility monopolies.

Kanda, who served as Aichi governor for three terms between 1999 and 2011, admitted that he received funds from the company on at least one occasion in 1999.

Nagoya-based Chubu Electric is suspected of raising 250 million yen in off-the-book funding to buy support from politicians for nuclear power and other utility-related concerns.

The individual said he provided 3 million yen in 1999 and 5 million yen in 2003 to Kanda at his residence shortly before the start of his election campaigns.

Each time the executive said he made an appointment to meet Kanda before visiting his home and handing over cash directly to him.

Although Kanda admitted he received funds from Chubu Electric, he could not recall whether he received money in 2003. The former governor added that officials from the utility never asked him for anything in exchange.

“I remember that I received money once at the time of my first election, but I don’t clearly recall whether I received (money) or not at the time of my second election,” Kanda said. “I certainly did not provide favors to Chubu Electric, and they did not ask me for any favors, either.”

Kanda was a member of a Chubu Electric’s panel on utility policies that was comprised of locally influential people.

“Aichi’s governor was a member of the panel, so he was of special importance to us compared with governors of other prefectures,” the executive said.

For the 5 million yen it paid to the governor in 2003, the utility had five major construction companies contribute 1 million yen each. The executive said he told Kanda the names of the contractors.

To raise 250 million yen for the slush fund, the utility padded the amount it charged for orders that it placed to these companies, the executive said. His revelation raises the possibility that the utility used revenue paid by electricity consumers to buy the support of politicians for utility-related projects.

The executive said that Chubu Electric also paid money from the secret fund to candidates in three other gubernatorial elections during the same time frame beginning in the 1980s.

Each time, the company handed between 2 million yen and 5 million yen to relatives of the candidates or executives on their campaign teams. It some instances, a candidate’s side approached Chubu Electric for a monetary contribution, the executive said.

While prefectural governors have no legal authority in the decision-making process over the construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants, the safety agreements required between power companies and local governments oblige the utilities to gain the approval of prefectural and local governments before they can construct new reactors or restart those that have been idled.

“If we alienate prefectural governors, it will cause us many problems in promoting the utility’s projects,” said the executive.

A spokesman for Chubu Electric said the company has no record relating to the executive’s allegations.

The gubernatorial candidates from the other prefectures and former executives from their campaign teams said they are not aware of the alleged monetary handover or they have no memory of it.

Asahi