[/floatr]Telegraph: Japanese politicians plundered bottomless state fund Former officials have come forward to describe a huge safe in the chief cabinet secretary's office stacked with tens of millions of yen that they were able to hand out without providing receipts. The fund was reported to contain Y1 billion but that figure has never been tested as no matter how much they gave to politicians the safe would always be replenished the next day. It was officially used for "information-gathering," but the bureaucrats said most of the money was spent to grease proceedings in parliament, to pay for gifts for politicians ahead of crucial votes and to cover expenses on overseas trips. A politician fighting a close election campaign would be able to take several tens of millions of yen from the fund, they told the Asahi newspaper...more...
