Japan’s ‘Shadow Shogun’ not guilty of money scandal

TOKYO – One of the most powerful men in Japanese politics was found not guilty Thursday of a major funding scandal, paving the way for a possible showdown with the ruling party leadership.

Ichiro Ozawa, a powerbroker of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, enters the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo Thursday, April 26, 2012. The court acquitted the veteran lawmaker Thursday in a political funding scandal. Ozawa was charged last year with overseeing false accounting by his former aides in a murky 2004 land deal. AP

Ichiro Ozawa, once dubbed the “Shadow Shogun”, was cleared by the Tokyo District Court of allegations he conspired with aides to hide 400 million yen ($4.9 million) he lent to his political funding body in 2004 to facilitate a land deal.

His aides said the mistake was purely technical and their boss – a former Democratic Party of Japan leader who engineered the party’s 2009 election victory – had not been aware of it, while prosecutors said it was “unthinkable” Ozawa had not been in the loop.

Major TV networks cleared their schedules to report the verdict, with a huge media presence at the court for a case that has gripped Japan’s political classes for years.

A spokesman for the court said 1,843 people queued up for the 46 seats available to the public.