Scoop! Rurei Miura Obtains “Documentary Evidence” of Receiving “3.85 Million Yen Solar Consulting Fee” from Husband’s Company

In March, Kiyoshi Miura, 43, the head of investment company Tribay Capital (“Tribay”), was arrested and indicted by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of embezzlement in the course of his duties. His wife, Rurei Miura (42), an international political scientist, was also suspected of involvement in the case and her husband’s business, but she commented that she was not involved in her husband’s company management at all and had no knowledge of it. Furthermore, in an interview with the April issue of the monthly magazine Bungei Shunju, Rurei offered the following defense.

[Joon] I don’t speak out against anything because, first of all, I really don’t know anything about the incident beyond the fact that there was trouble with the investor and that he was suspected of embezzlement. [I] myself was in no position to offer an opinion or make any kind of judgment.

Rurei says he was not in a position to be involved in the case, nor in the management or business of Tribay. However, an internal Tribay document obtained by this magazine contains facts that contradict Rurei’s defense.

The key is the development of a solar power plant in Wakayama Prefecture (“Wakayama Power Plant”), a project that Tribay was involved in.

The Wakayama Power Plant is a mega solar power plant with an output of 47 megawatts (MW) planned for Hidakagawa Town, Wakayama Prefecture, separate from the current case.” The project was developed in 2005 by Tri-Bay and Tokyo-based company J, which created a separate company. According to the registry of the separate company, the representative member is Tribay and the executive director is Mr. Kiyoshi,” said a reporter from a national newspaper.

(A reporter for a national newspaper) Regarding the Wakayama power plant, Tribay signed a contract on September 4, 2008. This is indicated in the two A4-size documents titled “Consulting Agreement for the Development of Solar Power Generation Business” (see photo below). Article 1 of the agreement reads as follows

TRIBAY CAPITAL (hereinafter referred to as “TRIBAY CAPITAL”) requests Wildcat Research Institute, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Wildcat Research Institute”) to provide consulting services in connection with the development of the solar power generation project (hereinafter referred to as the “Project”) indicated below, and Wildcat Research Institute is contracted to provide such services.

Wildcat Research Institute, Inc. is a think tank headed by Mr. Rurei that occupies the same office as Tribay (“Wildcat”). Although there is a typographical error, the documents indicate that a consulting contract regarding the Wakayama Power Plant was signed between Tribay and Wildcat. The contract amount was 3.85 million yen (including tax), and we also obtained invoices supporting this.

In other words, Rurei and Kiyoshi were also business partners who shared interests through Tribay’s business.

In October 2008, shortly after signing the consulting contract with Tribay, the government’s Growth Strategy Council was launched, with Mr. Rurei serving as an expert. At the sixth meeting of the Council, Mr. Rurei submitted a “handout” that contained a noteworthy statement.

For solar power generation FIT (Feed-in Tariff) projects that have signed an interconnection agreement (to sell electricity to power companies), if the output is reduced by 20% or more from the original plan before the start of operation, there is a penalty that the procurement price will be reduced. (omitted) As long as the point of connection remains the same, output reduction of solar power generation projects should be allowed without penalty across the board.

They are calling for the elimination of the penalty imposed on solar power plants before operation if they reduce their output compared to the planned output. An official at a Wakayama power plant said.

The Wakayama Power Plant, which was planned in a mountainous area and requires land development to level the slopes, is expected to incur significant costs, and it was argued that it would be difficult to line up the 47 MW of solar panels originally planned. When we calculated the cost of building the land and the income from power sales under the FIT, it was necessary to lower the output to about 35 MW, below the 20% limit, in order to make a profit.”

If Rurei’s proposal is realized, the pending problem facing Tribay could be resolved. Is this not evidence that Rurei was trying to lobby the government to “steer profits” to her husband’s company?

We asked Wildcat and Tribay in writing about the facts, but received no response by the deadline.

The plating is coming off Mr. Rurei, who said he was “unable to express his opinions or make any judgments” about Tribay’s management.

From “FRIDAY” May 5, 2023 issue