However, the official declined to answer detailed questioning about how and when documents were altered, saying he was under criminal investigation. The row deepened when the finance ministry admitted official records of the sale were altered, with references to Abe, his wife, and Finance Minister Taro Aso scrubbed. Official documents relating to the sale were apparently altered to make them consistent with his testimony, according to the finance minister. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front L) arrives at his official residence to attend a cabinet meeting in Tokyo on March 27, 2018. The affair took a tragic turn earlier in the month when an official from the finance ministry apparently involved in the scandal took his own life.

Source: New Strait Times March 27, 2018 02:37 UTC