Photo/Illutration Kiyohiko Toyama in February 2021 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Tokyo District Court found former Komeito lawmaker Kiyohiko Toyama guilty on March 29 of illegally brokering COVID-19 relief loans and gave him a suspended prison term.

The court handed down a two-year sentence, suspended for three years, along with a 1-million-yen ($8,110) fine.

Prosecutors had sought a two-year sentence without suspension and a 1-million-yen fine.

Toyama, 52, was indicted without arrest on charges of illegally arranging government-backed loans and violating the Money Lending Control Law in December.

He was ousted from the party over the affair.

It is believed to be the first case of a current or former Diet member being indicted and convicted on this charge.

According to court documents, Toyama brokered 82 loans from March 2020 to June 2021 without registering as a money lender. 

Toyama had also conspired with Atsushi Maki, 74, who was a broker with ties to politicians and had brokered 29 loans from April 2020 to January 2021, the documents said.

Maki was indicted on the same charge and has been on trial.

Prosecutors in the trial explained that Toyama received a total of 10.1 million yen from companies in fees for intermediating the loans.

They said Toyama had repeated the illegal actions while sitting as a Lower House member and a vice finance minister who wielded major influence in the Finance Ministry, making dishonest profits from those who needed the loans.

Toyama admitted to the charges during the trial and apologized, saying he made the illegal loans “to help cash-strapped companies in the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Defense lawyers had asked for leniency because “responding to petitions (for assistance) from supporters is a standard practice in politics.”

But the court said in the ruling that Toyama’s actions were “clearly beyond ‘responding to supporters’ petitions and subject to censure.”

(This article was written by Takashi Uematsu and Yuji Harada.)

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