A town in central
More than 60 percent of the donations were given to Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, just prior to two nuclear reactors starting operations in the early 1980s, according to the sources and the city's financial statements.
However, Takahama city officials said they do not know how contributions were spent and that anonymous donors provided some of them, the sources said.
Municipal governments are not legally bound to report how donations from electric power companies were used to the central government nor to their donors, underscoring the lack of transparency.
A
According to Takahama's financial records, the city has received in total
In addition, there were four anonymous donations in the 1970s totaling around
In fiscal 1980, the utility donated
The city has recorded the money as "donations for business related to regional promotion" or "donations for soil reclamation" on its books, but an official at the city's general affairs office said that there is no actual record of what the money was used for precisely.
Takahama received
The town has been at the heart of the money scandal after the late deputy mayor
Fukui Prefecture's committee investigating the matter said Thursday it found that 109 current and former Fukui prefectural officials received money and other gifts from Moriyama in an apparent attempt to strengthen his influence in the local government.
==Kyodo
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