crime

Sahashi's legal woes are just beginning.

I appears that Sahashi's trail for embezzlement has yet to begin, but arguments in the ¥16 million class action lawsuit were heard in Osaka District Court on Thursday.

The anniversary of NOVA's collapse has quietly come and gone. The Daily Yomiuri and Sankei Shimbun provide an update on what has been going on over the past year. Their stories are unsurprising, as many issues facing former students and instructors have yet to be resolved.

One year ago today, NOVA collapsed after Nozomu Sahashi was ousted in a coup d'etat by his directors who then filed for protection under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law. NOVA officially went bankrupt on November 26, with g.communication picking over the carcass of the Pink Bunny for any juicy tidbits.

Remember when the Osaka Labor Bureau sought to have Sahashi charged with non-payment of wages earlier this year? Prosecutors shot that idea down because they couldn't determine if the non-payment was deliberate or due to the company's poor financial state.

has been filed against NOVA. This time, 24 former students are suing Sahashi, five of his directors, and accounting firm KPMG AZSA & Co. for ¥16 million.

The group says they want the truth and those responsible to be held accountable, citing that about ¥56 billion yen was never returned to NOVA'S 300,000 students.

Reporting on companies that go bankrupt follows a predictable script. First, the shocking news of the bankruptcy is announced followed by a few more details. Next, are the stories about the people who lost their money, which are then followed by the stories of anger from the people who lost their money. The Chugoku Shimbun brings us a story about the anger.

The October 26 edition of the Yomiuri Weekly carries an article that illustrates how much of a scam the travel abroad sector is--it's all about money, and the rules to protect consumers from being swindled are few and far between. The YW takes a look at why Gateway21's clients will never see the ¥950 million they paid the company.

Osaka-based NPO, Kansai Consumer's Support Organization, has sued English conversation school operator Fortress Japan for "undue solicitations."

Sahashi plans to plead innocent.

Prosecutors will not indict Sahashi for non-payment of salaries for last October and September.