The Japanese man at the center of a controversy over nine "surrogate babies" found in a Bangkok condo has just left Thailand, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Friday, quoting local police authorities.
The unnamed man, whom his lawyer claims is the surrogate father of the babies, is 24 years old and has visited Thailand 65 times over the last two years, Thai police were quoted as saying.
He left Thailand for Macau in the early hours of Thursday, according to the Mainichi newspaper.
The case follows another high-profile case involving an Australian couple accused of abandoning their disabled baby with their Thai surrogate mother, shedding light again on the unregulated business of commercial surrogacy in Thailand.
But the lawyer for the Japanese man reportedly claimed that there is no legal issue involved in this case.
"The Japanese man is very rich, needs a lot of children to inherit his business and visits Thailand often to see his children," the lawyer was quoted as saying.