鳩山「巨額資金」 検察と国税は厳正に対処せよ

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The Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 5, 2009)
No room for leniency in Hatoyama fund probe
鳩山「巨額資金」　検察と国税は厳正に対処せよ（12月5日付・読売社説）

The extraordinary Diet session ended Friday without any intensive deliberations focusing on the shadowy fund management of certain politicians, or debates between party leaders. Just as worryingly, the issue of falsified reports on political donations involving Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's fund-management organization remains unsettled.
　党首討論も「政治とカネ」の集中審議も開かれないまま、臨時国会が４日閉幕した。だが、鳩山首相の偽装献金問題は終わったわけではない。

The first whiff of scandal arose when it was found that Hatoyama's fund-management organization had listed dead people as donors. Adding to the maelstrom, Hatoyama now is suspected of having received a huge amount of money from his mother. The public has been astonished by these allegations.
　首相の資金管理団体が死亡した人を「寄付者」と偽った「故人献金」問題は、母親から首相への巨額の資金提供疑惑に発展し、世間を揺るがしている。

Hatoyama's mother allegedly extended 180 million yen annually as "loans" to the prime minister. These payments, which totaled about 1.1 billion yen over about six years, reportedly began shortly after the 2002 Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, in which Hatoyama was elected party leader for a third term.
　「貸付金」と称して提供された金額は、年１億８０００万円、６年余りで１１億円を超える。２００２年の民主党代表選の後から提供が始まったという。

Former Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama, who is the younger brother of the prime minister, also is believed to have received a similar amount of money from his mother.
　弟である自民党の鳩山邦夫元総務相も、ほぼ同額を母親から受け取ったとみられている。

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Unanswered questions

The prime minister's fund-management organization apparently made false entries regarding donations and income from sales of fund-raising party tickets, including money that came from funds provided by Hatoyama's mother, totaling 360 million yen in political fund reports over five years.
　首相の資金管理団体が、母親からの資金を原資とする分も含め、献金やパーティー券収入を政治資金収支報告書に虚偽記入した総額は、５年間で３億６０００万円に上っている。

The prime minister has yet to give a proper explanation about these funds, citing the investigation being conducted by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office for suspected violations of the Political Funds Control Law. Asked about the funds from his mother, the prime minister said, "I myself am surprised." Hatoyama's remark gave the impression that he saw this as someone else's problem. We think this is inexcusable.
　首相は、東京地検が政治資金規正法違反の疑いで捜査していることなどを理由に、事実関係を説明していない。母親からの資金提供についても、「私自身、驚いている」と人ごとのように言っている。だが、それでは済まされまい。

Why did he need such a massive sum of money? For what purposes was this money used? The prime minister must answer these questions.
　なぜこれほどの資金が必要だったのか。一体何に使ったのか。こうした疑問に首相は答えなければならない。

Prosecutors reportedly have decided not to question the prime minister and instead are considering asking him to submit a written statement. However, we think the prosecutors should speak to Hatoyama directly to unravel the truth behind this disturbing affair.
　東京地検は首相の事情聴取を見送り、上申書の提出を求めることを検討しているという。だが、真相を解明するには、本人の話を聞く必要があるのではないか。

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Don't let history repeat

After former Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Shin Kanemaru was found to have illegally received 500 million yen in donations in 1992, the prosecutors office made a summary indictment after letting Kanemaru submit a written statement without undergoing questioning.
　１９９２年、金丸信・元自民党副総裁が５億円の違法献金を受けたことが明るみに出た際、東京地検は本人に事情聴取しないまま上申書提出だけで略式起訴した。

Surely prosecutors have not forgotten the public outrage sparked by the handling of the Kanemaru incident. Groups of people filed 40,000 criminal complaints calling for further investigations into the case.
　これが国民の反発を買い、４万件の告発が寄せられた事実を忘れてはなるまい。

We believe prosecutors should conduct a meticulous investigation into Hatoyama's donations that will satisfy the general public.
検察は国民の視点に立ち、捜査を尽くすべきだ。

Common sense suggests the amount of money Hatoyama received from his mother was too large to have been loans. Furthermore, it appears that no written documents or agreements specifying repayment of these "loaned" funds were made.
　母親からの資金提供は、「貸付金」にしては、常識外れの大きさだ。しかも、借用書や返済についての取り決めはなかった。

If national tax authorities deem this money to be gifts, the prime minister would have to pay more than 400 million yen in tax as he failed to declare them as such.
　国税当局が贈与と認定した場合は、単純な申告漏れでも首相に４億円以上の納税義務が生じる。

Tax authorities will determine whether the funds in question were loans or gifts. If the authorities treat the prime minister leniently, the public will feel the matter is not being handled fairly. They might even lose trust in tax authorities.
　貸付金か贈与かは、国税当局が実態に応じて判断するが、一国の首相に甘い対応をとれば、国民は不公平感を募らせ、納税に対して疑問を抱きかねない。

The Yomiuri Shimbun has received a number of comments from its readers on this issue. "It's unacceptable that [the prime minister] simply says he didn't know what was going on after he received up to 1.1 billion yen," one reader said, while another complained, "I don't feel like paying my taxes any more."
　読売新聞には、「１１億円ももらって知らぬ存ぜぬでは済まされない」「もう税金を納めたくない」という声が寄せられている。

The tax authorities should be relentless in their handling of this case.
　国税当局も厳正に対処しなければなるまい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 5, 2009)
（2009年12月5日01時38分 読売新聞）