A former chancellor of Tokyo Women’s Medical University is believed to have received about 37 million yen ($234,700) in kickbacks through a series of shady exchanges of the school’s money, investigative sources said.

Kinuko Iwamoto, 78, who was arrested on Jan. 13 on suspicion of breach of trust, apparently used the money to buy brand-name goods, the sources said, adding that her closest associate was involved in the scheme.

Iwamoto is accused of causing about 117 million yen in damages to the university in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward by arranging illicit payments to the president of a construction company in his 60s.

The man, a first-class architect, received a salary from the university and compensation as an “architectural adviser” for two projects to construct new school buildings from July 2018 to February 2020.

The investigative sources said that on two occasions since February 2019, the company president deducted taxes from the payments he received from the university, and then withdrew two-thirds of the remaining amount.

He then met Iwamoto’s close associate, a woman in her 50s, in the vicinity of Kasai Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line. He handed her entire amount in cash in a paper bag, the sources said.

These handovers were revealed through text message exchanges and other means, the sources said.

Tokyo police believe the associate, a former senior official of the university’s corporate management division, then gave all of the cash to Iwamoto on the same day.

The Metropolitan Police Department found no indication that the associate kept any of the money for herself.

Police suspect Imamoto arranged the entire scheme with the goal of gaining kickbacks.

Investigators have also questioned the company president and the associate on a voluntary basis.

According to a report compiled by the university’s third-party committee, the school hired the company president in 2016 for the construction of new school buildings and a seismic reinforcement project for hospital wards.

From July 2018 to February 2022, Iwamoto had the university pay the man about 300 million yen as remuneration for his services, in addition to his salary.

The payments were approved by the board of directors without determining the basis for the size of the amounts or the nature of the work, according to the report.

The report also noted that some of the work included construction projects for which the man played only a minor role.

The committee said Iwamoto’s “one-power system” was behind these problems, and it strongly pursued the responsibility of her and the board of directors.

The committee also accused Iwamoto of “having a strong attachment to money.”

She was dismissed from her post as chancellor in August 2024.

The Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Japan’s only women’s medical university, has a history of more than 100 years.

Its affiliated hospital is known for advanced medical care, including cardiac surgery and organ transplants.

(This article was written by Tabito Fukutomi and Arata Mitsui.)