Article: Government was urged to sell land next to gang boss' home.

Aug. 17--TOKYO -- Several men who claimed to be secretaries of lawmakers repeatedly pressured officials of the Finance Ministry between 1999 and 2001 to sell by public tender a plot of state land located next to the house of a yakuza chief in Kitakyushu, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Wednesday.

The officials said that during the same period, since a man believed to be a member of the Kudo-kai yakuza group also asked the ministry to sell the plot of land, they were led to believe that some lawmakers pressured the ministry on behalf of the crime syndicate.

The officials sought advice from the Fukuoka prefectural police, and made an unprecedented decision to ...

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