Jitsuo Inagaki

According to the Tokyo District Court, Ina gaki, 77, conspired with partners to solicit a total of around ¥24 million from 24 investors, mainly elderly people, between May and December 2002 when he was head of an investment consultant company.

"The crime was cunning and malicious, in that in making solicitations, emphasis was made on the fact that the head of the company was a former state minister and a lawmaker, to gain people's trust," presiding Judge Mitsuaki Takayama said in handing down the sentence, which was suspended for five years.

"Defendant Inagaki agreed to become the head of the firm in order to secure funds for his business and repay his debts," the judge added. "He personally went to the Financial Services Agency to hear explanations (on what was legally acceptable) and was fully aware of the illicit nature of his actions. As such, he bears particularly heavy criminal responsibility."

The Japan Times Weekly: June 25, 2005
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