Tokyo prosecutors have begun searching the office of a Lower House lawmaker in connection with a fundraising scandal involving factions of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

On Wednesday, investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office raided Ikeda Yoshitaka's office, which is located at the Diet members' office building.

Ikeda is a member of the LDP's largest faction, which was once led by the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

The Abe faction is suspected of having failed to include in its political funds reports kickbacks it paid to the offices of member lawmakers who sold tickets for fundraising events in excess of their quotas.

Prosecutors raided the offices of the Abe faction last week.

Informed sources say Ikeda's office is believed to have received kickbacks worth more than 40 million yen, or about 280,000 dollars, from the faction during the five-year period leading up to 2022.

They say Ikeda's office is suspected of having failed to report the receipt of the money in its political funds reports.

This is the first time prosecutors have raided the office of a lawmaker linked to the scandal.

Ikeda has been elected to the Lower House four times.

He served as state minister of education from October 2021 to August 2022.

Sources say Ikeda has already been questioned by prosecutors on a voluntary basis.