OSAKA -- Former fugitive real estate developer Heo Young Joong, 52, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty again to charges of causing damage to the defunct trading house Itoman Corp. The Osaka businessman restated the plea when his Osaka District Court trial resumed Tuesday following a 28-month recess caused by his flight while on bail. The charges against Heo include aggravated breach of trust. Heo also pleaded not guilty to evading 3.1 billion yen in corporate taxes. While on bail, Heo was allowed in September 1997 to visit South Korea to attend a memorial service for a relative of his wife, but later disappeared there. He was found and detained by police in Tokyo in November. He told the court Tuesday that he came back to Japan in October 1997 through Fukuoka airport, but had since failed to attend court hearings due to "circumstances." Heo is accused of causing at least 49.3 billion yen in losses to Itoman through a conspiracy with Yoshihiko Kawamura, a former president of Itoman, and Suemitsu Ito, a former managing director. Responding to questions from prosecutors, Heo told the court that he returned via Fukuoka airport early last October from South Korea. He was released on bail in December 1993. Heo, however, refused to elaborate on how he lived during his absence. Widely known as "the big shot in the underground economy," Heo is the focus of public attention as prosecutors try to prove underworld connections and shady activities. According to the National Police Agency, Heo vanished after a trial session in September 1997 and is believed to have started living in Tokyo since April. During his time in Tokyo, he repeatedly had Misako Kim, 38, who is now on trial for unlawfully harboring him, reserve expensive hotel rooms by posing as his wife, police sources said. Heo also frequented an apartment in Yokohama that was secured by a 62-year-old business owner in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, who had a connection with him, the sources alleged, adding that a 65-year-old lawyer in Sapporo helped Heo by lending him his credit card. Police have arrested eight people so far, including Heo, and the three suspected to have abetted his flight.
