Illegal overpayment coverup suspected in election campaign scandal

The election campaign office of Japanese lawmaker Anri Kawai, wife of former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, is suspected of covering up illegally large payments to staff members during last year's upper house election, sources close to the matter said Thursday.The office of Anri, 46, who won a seat for the Liberal Democratic Party in last July's House of Councillors election, allegedly split payments of double the permitted amount over two receipts to conceal the offense.The daily allowance payments totaling 30,000 yen ($273) were made to a group of "election warblers," as women who are …READ FULL ARTICLE