The Osaka District Court allowed a defendant in a scandal involving defunct trading house Itoman Corp. to travel abroad 29 times between December 1993 and his disappearance while on trial in October 1997, according to Supreme Court officials.
Heo Young Joong, who was released on bail in 1993, received court permission for trips to destinations including South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, China, France and Britain. He went abroad 16 times before jumping bail in South Korea in 1997, the officials said Friday.
Heo, an Osaka real estate developer, was found and detained by police in Tokyo in November and is currently on trial on charges of causing at least 49.3 billion yen in losses to Itoman in conspiracy with two company executives.