Prosecutors drop charges against ex-bureaucrat over document tampering

facing claims that they doctored documents

They admitted as much themselves....

I now believe that Aso’s head rolling is where this will stop, eventually. Or him together with Abe.

Or otherwise Japan is going upwards in the global corruption indexes.

Yeah. Probably the latter.

Bwahahaha! Is anybody surprised?

"parts of the documents were rewritten to make them consistent with Sagawa's testimony to parliament,"

*"But prosecutors were 'apparently' unable to determine that the changes were substantial enough to constitute a criminal offense."*

Apparently? Apparently tampering with evidence and lying in a court of law are not illegal for Japanese politicians. What a huge crock of poop! How do these criminals continue to get away with it?

So a little bit of forgery / fraud is OK?

ill remember that next time I do my tax return.

So it's OK to put 2 people in jail for 10 months over this, but when you have a self admitted fraudster they don't want to touch it? That's medieval.

Something smells very fishy here...

Even admits to the crime, but due to his status they will take it no further...could be embarrassing.

The ministry has admitted that parts of the documents were rewritten to make them consistent with Sagawa's testimony to parliament, including removing references to Akie Abe and the "special circumstances" of the sale.

But prosecutors were apparently unable to determine that the changes were substantial enough to constitute a criminal offense.

Well that's obviously an extremely dangerous precedent to set. Not that I believe for a second that Sagawa in any way took it upon himself to put himself on the line by making the decision to alter these documents. I'm sure he didn't get to where he was by ignoring the strict hierarchy we all know and love.

But come on, just the changes that have already been admitted are pretty darn substantial. I agree, this smells ratty.

This is not acceptable!

But prosecutors were apparently unable to determine that the changes were substantial enough to constitute a criminal offense.

That is not the prosecutors job! That is up to the judges / lay judges to decide.

I repeat, this is NOT acceptable. Time for demonstrations in Osaka - in front of the prosecutors offices.

Here again. This is within my expectation to see him released. Even the police under pressure the power from above. And presumably he said at the police investigation. -I don't recall...

what a joke

Lol...did anyone here expect any other outcome? Well the Japanese voted this crew in so I guess its simply a case of suck it up folk you got what you clearly asked for...and no point in crying about it. Unfortunately though the Japanese proleteriat do have my genuine sympathy because whatever group you vote in here you will get pretty much the same thing, just under a different family banner. You really can't erase thousands of years of traditional shogun rule with a European concept of democracy which in its current form and this includes outside of Japan, I have only contempt for! We are pretty much controlled by the elites under various different guises to make the rest of us think we actually have a say...sadly hilarious!

Any over throws of government or revolution simply creates a new elite who work to tighten their grip it really is a no win situation for the rest of us who are simply trying to make a living and getting our kids raised properly.

So a little bit of forgery / fraud is OK?

ill remember that next time I do my tax return.

Excellent point, HollisBrown!

A loss for Democracy.

A win for Theocracy - the Temple of Nippon-Kaigi.

Sontaku reigns supreme - and I don't need to put that in writing.

"Osaka prosecutors decided Thursday not to indict former top Finance Ministry official Nobuhisa Sagawa for allegedly falsifying documents on a murky land sale that has sparked allegations of cronyism by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration." What a joke. But who did not expect the punchline?

Joke of the day.

Japan inc. as you were

Well good to know that rule of law doesn’t apply to the rich and powerful. Can’t say I’m exactly surprised here.

ill remember that next time I do my tax return.

Osaka Governor / Mayor Matsui pointed this out yesterday too.

He’s one of the good guys.

The foxes continue to guard the hen house ...

"This is a very serious issue, and we look to discover how it happened and prevent it from reoccurring. We have to win back the public's trust," Aso told reporters at Narita airport near Tokyo, before departing to attend a Group of Seven finance ministers' meeting in Canada.

If you believe this crock, drop me a line.

I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.

Ladies and gents, only reason Japan's different from saudis or noko is that at least in japan, people get to pretend that their choices actually exact real change. Back to sleep sheeple. Nothing to see here.

That is not the prosecutors job! That is up to the judges / lay judges to decide.

But thats how law works in Japan. The prosecutor acts like the judge, and the judge rubber stamps the prosecutors decision.

Forging and altering government documents is a felony. But high-ranking bureaucrats can get away with anything. Disgrace to the whole nation.

This is so criminal! Abe is so corrupt! Goodbye Japan :(

Clearly the ldp are the biggest yakuza group in Japan!

This country is doomed

I personally know a Japanese that didn’t file taxes properly, was found guilty of fraud and got jail time.

Yet, falsifying documents doesn’t seem to have a penalty if one has a title?

Even admits to the crime,

I don't think government officials altering documents generally constitutes a crime. They do it all the time. In a sense, it's part of their job. The bigger problem is that voters will do nothing about it.

Sounds like the place where I used to be employed.

He was only trying to protect his boss!

Folks really need to keep in mind that in cases like this where there is no proverbial body waiting to be buried, the prosecutors here will not press charges and go to trial unless they are 100% certain of victory.

Even with an admittance of guilt, they need the evidence to back it up, as the defense could tear them apart without it.

You know what they all deserve (including the prosecutors)? Two words: iron maiden. And i'm not talking about the rock band.

How genuine a trooper can you get?

I want to "cry" because anyone who thinks that these three are without any guilt means that they are purposely being blind to the system that brought this problem up in the first place. I've been in Japan long enough to realize that there is no way any low level career bureaucrat, or government employee, could pull something off this major without anyone above them knowing about it.

There is no way. None, Zero, Zip, Zilch!

But let's take this ludicrous idea a step further, IF by any chance they did know nothing they STILL should be resigning as THEY are the heads of the ministry and government and THAT is what Japanese businessmen and politicians do when they break the public trust. They apologize and more importantly quit.

Political immunity?!