A secretary to ruling party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa pleaded not guilty Dec. 18 to charges of falsifying donation records from major contractor Nishimatsu Construction Co.

Takanori Okubo, 48, a state-funded secretary to Ozawa, who is secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, entered the plea at the opening of his Tokyo District Court trial.

"I did not think (my deeds) could violate the law," Okubo said.

But in their opening statement, prosecutors argued Okubo himself decided who would be awarded public works contracts and using that clout, demanded money and election campaign support from major construction companies.