Iwamoto Suspected of Receiving Another ¥50 mil. in Kickbacks; Architect Received ¥150 mil. Related to Hospital Project

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:43 JST, January 15, 2025

Kinuko Iwamoto, 78, the former chancellor of Tokyo Women’s Medical University arrested over having the university illegally disburse funds to an architect, is suspected of receiving another ¥50 million in kickbacks from the same architect, according to investigative sources. The additional money is connected to a separate construction project.

An investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department has revealed that the first-class registered architect received about ¥150 million in “architectural advisor fees” from the university between March 2020 and September 2021. This money was disbursed in connection to the construction of a new ward at the Medical Center East, a hospital affiliated with the university, which was later relocated to Adachi Ward, Tokyo, and renamed Adachi Medical Center.

After an investigation of the architect’s bank account, it is suspected that the architect handed back about ¥50 million to Iwamoto via a former university employee and close aide of the former chancellor.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department now suspects Iwamoto of receiving a total of around ¥87 million in kickbacks, the sources said.

Iwamoto was arrested on Monday on suspicion of breach of trust over around ¥100 million paid to the architect between July 2018 and February 2020 in connection with the construction of two new school buildings in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. The architect did not work on either building as an architectural advisor.

The architect returned about two-thirds of the disbursed funds, after paying his resident tax and other expenses, to Iwamoto via the aide. The amount returned was ¥37 million.

Iwamoto became the chairperson of the “advisory committee for the future planning of facilities” in April 2015 and promoted the construction of new school buildings and other facilities. The architect was initially hired as a part-time contract employee in April 2016, but since July 2018, the university has paid him about ¥300 million for advisory services, in addition to his salary.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating how Iwamoto has spent the money, believing that she used it for personal use, including the purchase of luxury brand goods.