Sources say former justice minister Kawai Katsuyuki and his Diet lawmaker wife Kawai Anri allegedly gave cash to 40 local politicians in the western prefecture of Hiroshima to buy votes.
The two were arrested for a suspected election law violation over last year's Upper House vote in which the wife won a seat. Prosecutors suspect they gave about 240,000 dollars to 94 people.
Sources say former Justice Minister Kawai Katsuyuki was found to have given money to local politicians in Hiroshima on multiple occasions to secure votes for his wife Kawai Anri, who won a seat in last July's Upper House election.
Both were formerly with the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party. They are suspected of giving a total of 25 million 700,000 yen or about 240,000 dollars to 94 local politicians and executives of their supporters' groups.
A court in western Japan has handed a suspended prison sentence to a secretary of Upper House lawmaker Kawai Anri for paying campaign staff more than the legal limit during Kawai's run for the Diet last year.
Kawai, a member of Japan's main governing Liberal Democratic Party, was elected to the Upper House in July 2019.