OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Thursday ordered the estate of a deceased former mayor of Kyoto to pay 2.6 billion yen to compensate the city for his 1992 role in the purchase of a piece of property at more than double the appropriate price.
The former mayor, Tomoyuki Tanabe, died in December after the high court proceedings concluded. If the ruling is finalized, his family will either have to give up inheriting his assets or bear the responsibility of reimbursing the city's coffers, according to sources close to the case.
The high court ruling, which sharply increased the amount of damages from an earlier district court ruling, was on a suit filed by 900 Kyoto residents against the city's purchase of a mountainous land plot for 4.7 billion yen while Tanabe was serving as mayor.