An Osaka lawyer was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of hiding a man accused of helping real estate developer Heo Young Joong, 53, evade police after the start of his trial on charges of conspiring to cause damage to defunct trading house Itoman Corp.

Police said they arrested Koichi Kanematsu, 39, of Osaka, on suspicion of sheltering Takuichi Fukukawa, 54, an executive at a consulting company who had allegedly lent Heo a credit card.

The police also served a fresh arrest warrant on Heo's eldest son, Munehiro Kyo, 25, for his involvement in the coverup.

Kanematsu is the defense lawyer for Heo, whose trial in the Itoman scandal reopened at the Osaka District Court in February.

According to police, Kanematsu and Kyo allegedly asked Fukukawa to claim that he lent a credit card to Heo's son instead of his father, who was on the run.

Heo, who jumped bail after being allowed to visit South Korea in September 1997, was captured in early November at a Tokyo hotel. He was later turned over to the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office.

Fukukawa was arrested in January on suspicion of shielding Heo from the police and later indicted.

Heo, president of a real estate management company, was on trial on charges of breach of trust in connection with dubious art transactions between his company and Itoman that led to the collapse of the trading house in 1993.

Itoman was absorbed by Sumikin Bussan Kaisha Ltd., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd.

Heo is believed to have close ties with politicians and Japan's biggest organized-crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi.