Japanese school head repeats claims of donations from Abe

Tokyo

JAPAN'S Abegate scandal deepened on Thursday as Yasunori Kagoike, operator of an Osaka school involved in a murky purchase of government-owned land, gave sworn testimony in Parliament that he received a financial donation from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife Akie on behalf of the prime minister.

The alleged involvement of the Japanese leader and his wife with the Moritomo Gakuen school, which seeks to instil pre-war "nationalist" ideals into pupils, has become a major embarrassment for Mr Abe as rumours have swirled of political intervention in the land deal.