JAPAN

Construction Payoffs Probe Winds Up: Japanese prosecutors indicted a former Cabinet minister on charges of taking bribes from a big construction firm, in effect wrapping up a yearlong probe into payoffs from the construction industry. Former Construction Minister Kishiro Nakamura is suspected of accepting a bribe of nearly $100,000 from Kajima Corp. in exchange for pressuring anti-monopoly officials not to pursue bid-rigging charges involving Kajima and others in public works contracts. Since last year, the investigation has resulted in a chain of arrests of nearly 30 senior construction executives and several top local officials. The probe stemmed from an earlier scandal involving the fallen kingmaker and vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Shin Kanemaru. He is currently on trial on charges of evading 1.04 billion yen in taxes on hidden income from construction companies.