Court orders Yamaguchi governor to pay back spending on luxury official car

YAMAGUCHI, Nov 03 (NHK) - A district court has ordered the Yamaguchi prefectural government to urge the governor to pay back 20.9 million yen, or about 142,000 dollars, that it spent to buy a luxury car for official use.

A resident, who is a former prefectural government employee, filed a lawsuit over the prefecture's purchase of a Toyota Century as its official car in 2020.

The plaintiff said the car purchase is a deviation from the governor's authority and an illegal use of public funds.

The prefectural government said it was a reasonable decision as the car is used to carry VIPs.

On Wednesday, Presiding Judge Yamaguchi Noriyuki of the Yamaguchi District Court noted there are not many prefectures that own a Century as their guest car. He said the necessity of buying a new car and the model to be purchased should be taken into account from the viewpoint of cutting spending. He said he has no choice but to say such a consideration was significantly insufficient. ...continue reading

Source: ANNnewsCH

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