OSAKA -- The former president of a company that used to manage International Dojima Hotel was arrested Tuesday on suspicion that he withdrew more than 1 million yen from his bank account -- which was already under control of government-appointed administrators -- and hid the money.
Police raided more than 10 sites related to the company in connection with the case.
Arrested was Mun Byongon, 66, former president of Japan City Planning, which has been declared insolvent.
According to investigative sources, Mun withdrew more than 1 million yen from the bank account between March and June. Police are trying to locate the money.
Japan City Planning went bankrupt last March due to International Dojima Hotel's mounting debts. Renovation costs and a decline in the number of guests had hurt the Osaka hotel's business.
Four financial institutions, including Ashikaga Bank in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, had extended loans totaling more than 30 billion yen to the firm.
Mun, from Osaka, has held important positions in the business community of Korean residents in Japan.
He has served as chairman of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Korean residents in Japan and held other executive posts in pro-Pyongyang business groups in Japan.
In the 1980s, he supported the North Korean government in constructing a golf course in Pyongyang and was awarded a decoration from the late North Korean leader Kim Il Song.