Japan's youngest mayor arrested over bribery

Hiroto Fujii, 29-year-old mayor of Minokamo in central Japan's Gifu Prefecture, was arrested on Tuesday over suspicion of taking bribes over installation of water cleaning system at a public school, local media reported.

Fujii allegedly accepted bribes before assuming office from a 43-year-old businessman who runs a groundwater supply installation business, Japan's Kyodo News quoted local police as saying, adding that he is suspected of receiving several hundreds of thousands of yen from the businessman.

But Fujii denied that he had taken bribes while the businessman admitted to bribing the mayor, said the police.

Fujii won the mayoral election in June 2013 after running a school and serving as a local assembly member.

Accepting bribes in advance of assuming public office is punishable by up to five years in prison under the Penal Code, according to Kyodo.