Japan MOF official arrested for suspected assault -NHK
20/05/2022 03:37
TOKYO, May 20 (Reuters) - Japanese police on Friday arrested
a senior finance ministry official involved in coordinating
policies with the central bank for possible assault charges,
public broadcaster NHK reported.
Heihachiro Ono, 56, deputy vice minister for policy planning
and co-ordination at the Ministry of Finance (MOF), was
intoxicated at the time of the arrest shortly after midnight,
NHK said, citing investigative sources.
He was accused of hitting and kicking another passenger on
the subway, it said.
Tokyo police and Japan's top government spokesman, Hirokazu
Matsuno, declined to confirm the arrest, reported widely by
local media.
The finance ministry cannot immediately confirm the arrest,
an official said.
Ono, a career bureaucrat, usually attends the first day of
the Bank of Japan (BOJ) board's two-day policy-setting meetings
as a finance ministry representative. Government representatives
express opinions at the meetings and can delay a vote when they
have issues with the board's decision.
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Ju-min Park; Editing by
Chang-Ran Kim and Stephen Coates)
((ju-min.park@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
ju-min.park.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))