SHIZUOKA (TR) – Shizuoka Prefectural Police have discovered digital data of a forged university diploma on a personal computer belonging to Maki Takubo, the former mayor of Ito City who is currently facing trial for falsifying her academic credentials, investigative sources revealed on Tuesday, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun ().
Takubo, 56, was indicted without arrest on charges of forging and using a private document with a seal. According to the indictment, between late May and early June of last year, she orchestrated the creation of a fake Toyo University diploma to deceive the public about her educational background.
Prosecutors allege she used the internet to hire a vendor to create counterfeit name seals belonging to the university president and the dean of the law faculty, which were then stamped onto a document bearing her name.
Despite the discovery of the forged data on her PC — which was seized by Shizuoka police in February — Takubo is vehemently denying the allegations.
On Tuesday, her defense team submitted a document to the Shizuoka District Court pleading not guilty. The former mayor claims she never ordered the counterfeit seals herself, arguing instead that the forged diploma “may have been created by a third party.”
