Arrested diplomat had gov't affiliate pay for friend's trip.

TOKYO, May 16 Kyodo

Arrested Foreign Ministry official Masaru Sato arranged to have a government-funded body pay for a friend's trip to Japan in 2000, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Sato, a 42-year-old Russian affairs expert, planned to invite to Japan the head of a Tel Aviv University institute, who was hosting an international conference in Israel on Russian diplomacy scheduled in April 2000, ahead of the conference, according to the sources.

But Sato, as he himself could not afford to pay for his friend's trip, ordered fellow Foreign Ministry official Akira Maejima, who was arrested concurrently with Sato, to draft a bill to cover the travel expenses of the institute chief and his wife in the name of a preparatory meeting for the upcoming Israel conference, the sources said.

Maejima, 37, was at the time an assistant to a section chief of the Foreign Ministry's office overseeing the Cooperation Committee, an international organization funded by Japan to aid former Soviet republics to shift to a market-based economy.

Sato successfully drew some 3.3 million yen from the committee to pay for the couple's trip, according to the sources, who said they arrived in Japan two months before the April 2000 conference.

The Tel Aviv University scholar did not attend any preparatory meetings for the conference but instead spent most of the time sightseeing, though he did deliver a speech at a university, the sources said.

Sato, known to be close to disgraced lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, and Maejima were both arrested Tuesday on a charge of misusing more than 33 million yen in funds from the Cooperation Committee.

The committee, though funded by Japan, is technically an international organization established under an agreement between Japan and former Soviet republics.

Disbursements of its funds are supposed to be approved by both parties that signed the agreement but approval was not given by the former Soviet republic side to disburse the money arranged by Sato and Maejima, according to investigators.

The money is alleged to have been used to cover travel and sightseeing expenses for 17 people who attended the April 2000 conference in Israel.

Prosecutors are also looking into the travel expense case of the Tel Aviv University institute head and his wife, the sources said.