TOKYO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan's communications ministry said Thursday that another senior official was wined and dined by executives of telecom giant NTT group, in a potential violation of the country's ethics law.

According to ministry officials, Eiji Makiguchi, the director-general of the ministry's global strategy bureau was treated to expensive meals by NTT.

The latest revelation in a widening ethics scandal involving senior bureaucrats at the ministry, which has also implicated Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's eldest son who works for Tohokushinsha Film Corp., follows the admission of similar improprieties by Yasuhiko Taniwaki, vice minister for policy coordination at the ministry.

Taniwaki on Thursday admitted dining with NTT executives after weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported the previous day that he was wined and dined on three different occasions by the executives costing more than 170,000 yen (1,580 U.S. dollars).

Along with a number of other senior bureaucrats, Taniwaki has already been reprimanded by the ministry for accepting expensive dinners from executives, including the prime minister's eldest son, of Tohokushinsha Film Corp.

The ministry is responsible for issuing licenses to a satellite broadcasting business run by Tohokushinsha Film Corp. It also supervises Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

Central government officials under Japan's National Public Service Ethics Law are prohibited from receiving personal favors from official associates or stakeholders.

Under the law, meals paid for by official associates or stakeholders and costing upwards of 10,000 yen (93 U.S. dollars) must be declared by central government officials beforehand.

NTT, for its part, has admitted its President Jun Sawada dined with communications ministry officials.

"In light of the situation, we expect the communications ministry will swiftly, accurately and thoroughly investigate what happened," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a press briefing. Enditem

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