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Support group of Japan's new trade minister Yoichi Miyazawa spent funds at racy bar
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TOKYO (REUTERS) - Japan's new trade minister, installed this week to replace a minister caught in a funding scandal, said on Thursday a political support group of his spent money at a racy bar, a potential new headache for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Yoichi Miyazawa, 64, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said he learned from a news report of the 18,230 yen (S$216) that the support group spent at the sadomasochism-themed bar in his political district of Hiroshima.
"It is true such expenses were made," Miyazawa told reporters. "But I myself did not go there at all. That's true as well."
Kyodo News said the support group Miyazawa-kai had made the payment on Sept 6, 2010, labelled "entertainment expense", according to a political finances report.
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Copyright © 2014 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
Support group of Japan's new trade minister Yoichi Miyazawa spent funds at racy bar
<!--start of story text-->
TOKYO (REUTERS) - Japan's new trade minister, installed this week to replace a minister caught in a funding scandal, said on Thursday a political support group of his spent money at a racy bar, a potential new headache for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Yoichi Miyazawa, 64, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said he learned from a news report of the 18,230 yen (S$216) that the support group spent at the sadomasochism-themed bar in his political district of Hiroshima.
"It is true such expenses were made," Miyazawa told reporters. "But I myself did not go there at all. That's true as well."
Kyodo News said the support group Miyazawa-kai had made the payment on Sept 6, 2010, labelled "entertainment expense", according to a political finances report.
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Copyright © 2014 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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