(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-28 19:23

TOKYO -- Japan's former vice defense minister Takemasa Moriya was arrested Wednesday over allegations of taking bribes from an executive of a defense contractor while he was in power.

Former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya sorts out documents before he answers questions during a parliamentary testimony over defense ministry's scandal that he was involved in at the Upper House in Tokyo, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007. [Agencies]

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said that the arrest of the former top defense bureaucrat "is quite regrettable as it has damaged public trust of the defense administration."

The 63-year-old Moriya, together with his wife, was suspected to have received some 3.9 million yen ($36,000) worth of golf and other entertainment for three years since 2003 as reward for giving special treatment to Motonobu Miyazaki, a former executive of defense equipment trading house Yamada Corp, Kyodo News said.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Moriya was also suspected to have received some 4 million yen ($37,000) in cash in 2004 and 2006 for doing special favors to the defense contractor.

The Prosecutors of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office searched Moriya's home in Tokyo on Wednesday. Moriya's wife Sachiko was also arrested as an accomplice. Meanwhile, a fresh arrest warrant was also served to Miyazaki, who was initially arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and bribe-giving.

Moriya allegedly played golf together with Miyazaki for over 300 times and was entertained with a number of free golf tours with expense paid by Miyazaki, Kyodo said.