Tokyo prosecutors searched the offices and residences of two lawmakers in connection with a widening money-in-politics scandal, sending shockwaves through the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The searches were the first to target individual Diet members of the Abe faction in the LDP over their suspected failure to properly report political funds.

Investigators on the morning of Dec. 28 searched the office of Yasutada Ono in the Diet members’ office building in Tokyo’s Nagatacho district as well as his residence in the public dormitory for lawmakers in Tokyo’s Kojimachi district.

Ono, a twice-elected Upper House member representing Gifu Prefecture, is suspected of failing to report more than 50 million yen ($355,300) he received from a slush fund in the Abe faction.

According to investigative sources, most Abe faction members received such money, but the amount given to Ono was the largest.

Yoshitaka Ikeda, a four-time Lower House member elected through proportional representation to represent the Tokai bloc, is suspected of receiving more than 40 million yen from the Abe faction. That is the second-largest amount, the sources said.

On Dec. 27, investigators searched Ikeda’s office in the Diet members’ building, his residence in the public dormitory for lawmakers in Tokyo’s Akasaka district, his local office and home in Nagoya, and his aide’s home in Nagoya.

According to sources, the Abe faction, the largest in the LDP, assigned each member a quota for sales of tickets to its fund-raising parties.

Proceeds that exceeded the quotas were pooled in a slush fund and later returned to the lawmakers, investigative sources said.

About 500 million yen was exchanged in this manner over the past five years, and neither the faction nor the lawmakers listed the money in their political fund reports, the sources said.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declined to comment on the searches.

“I will refrain from touching on the specific activities of the investigative agencies, but I feel that we must work to restore confidence in politics with a strong sense of urgency,” he told reporters on Dec. 28.

Anxiety is clearly spreading in the ruling party.

After the search on Ikeda was reported, an incumbent Cabinet member moaned: “I wonder how many criminal cases will be made? It may be a different world out there for the party next spring.”

Tokyo prosecutors earlier searched the offices of the Abe faction and Nikai faction over suspected unreported funds.

But the latest moves by investigators have stunned other LDP members.

“It’s like the (investigation) has moved up one phase,” an Upper House member of the party said.

In light of the scandal, several members of the Abe faction have stepped down from their posts in the Cabinet or the LDP executive lineup.

Some within the faction expressed concern that the resignations are not enough.

“(The investigation) has spread to the very end of the (faction), and there is no end in sight,” one Abe faction member said. “Combined with the Unification Church issue, it’s a double whammy, and it has considerably tarnished our image.”

Hirokazu Matsuno, a former secretary-general of the Abe faction, resigned as chief Cabinet secretary and was replaced by Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Hayashi took over as the chief government spokesman during the biggest scandal facing the LDP under the Kishida administration.

He declined to comment on the issue at his news conference on Dec. 27.

“This is a matter related to the activities of the investigative agencies, and the government would like to refrain from answering questions about it,” Hayashi said.

“We will do our utmost to tackle various issues and achieve results so that there will be no delays in national politics,” he added.

In 2018, Ikeda was acting director of the LDP’s Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Division.

At that time, the education ministry was investigating the content of a speech by a former education bureaucrat who was critical of the Shinzo Abe administration.

Ikeda apparently got involved in the investigation and drew criticism for political intervention in education.

Ikeda recently has not been seen in the Diet that much, sources said.