The Ministry Intelligence Agency (MIA) was a clandestine Japanese intelligence agency which was shut down in December 2005 following a major corruption scandal involving its director, Kyohei Jingu, and the yakuza. The Ministry Intelligence Agency was a branch of the Interior Ministry which reported directly to the Cabinet Office (the Prime Minister), and it was tasked with counter-terrorism, espionage, and the protection of foreign dignitaries, protecting the Japanese government's interests both at home and abroad. The MIA was deeply corrupt, with LDP Dietman and MIA director Kyohei Jingu mobilizing the MIA to recover the ¥10 billion in illicit money stolen from him by Tojo-kai chairman Masaru Sera in December 2005; the MIA attempted to recover the money by kidnapping Haruka Sawamura (the daughter of the ¥10 billion's thief, Yumi Sawamura), who owned a pendant used as the key to the stolen money, but their plans were foiled by Kazuma Kiryu until Jingu discovered that the ¥10 billion was being stored in a vault atop the Millennium Tower. Kiryu once again foiled Jingu's plans by single-handedly defeating the MIA elite squad, and Jingu was killed by his former ally, Nishikiyama-gumi boss Akira Nishikiyama, when Nishikiyama chose to blow up the money and himself and Jingu out of remorse for the death of Yumi, his unrequited childhood love. Police superintendent Junichi Sudo and detective Makoto Date soon revealed the MIA's unscrupulous methods and corruption, forcing the Japanese government to shut down the MIA to quell the controversy.