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Nova was cash cow for ex-boss / Sahashi overcharged school chain to repay debts at other parts of group
Five companies affiliated with Ginganet Corp., owned by former Nova Corp. President Nozomu Sahashi, obtained 4 billion yen in loans from failed Ishikawa Bank in return for cooperating with the bank’s illicit transactions, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. After the bank went bankrupt in December 2001, Osaka-based Ginganet’s funding situation got worse. A court-appointed administrator…
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Nova boss grilled, may face charges
¥100 BILLION IN LIABILITIES The Osaka Central Labor Standards Supervision Office said Friday it questioned ex-Nova Corp. President Nozomu Sahashi this week on suspicion of breaking the law by failing to pay its employees. It was meanwhile revealed that Nova would have liabilities in excess of assets totaling nearly ¥100 billion if the foreign-language school…
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Japanese Lesson: How Do You Say, ‘Taken for a Ride’?
Fresh out of college, Sam Gordon bought a one-way ticket to Tokyo for a chance to explore Japan’s exotic culture while teaching English at the nation’s largest language school. All it took to get the job was one simple interview. The adventure, which began five years ago, has abruptly come to an end. His employer,…
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Foreign language instructors ‘will teach for food’ in Japan
Foreign language teachers who suddenly lost their jobs when Japan’s largest language school operator closed have been forced to rely on food handouts from their former students in exchange for private lessons, teachers and union officials said Thursday. Impromptu lessons are being offered in parks and restaurants because teachers can’t afford classrooms, or even apartments,…
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Former Nova president admits to nonpayments of salaries
Former Nova Corp. President Nozomu Sahashi admitted the language school chain withheld wages from thousands of employees, saying the now-defunct company could not raise sufficient funds, Osaka Labor Bureau sources said Friday. The bureau interviewed Sahashi on suspicion of violating the Labor Standards Law and may seek criminal charges after questioning Nova’s current management team.…
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Nova collapse leaves schools without ALTs
As English conversation school chain operator Nova Corp. filed for court protection from creditors under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law last week, schools that have contracts with Nova to dispatch assistant language teachers are scrambling to find substitute teachers or resorting to the use of CDs recorded by native speakers. “The children were very much looking…
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Bring NOVA back from the brink — or the bunny gets it
Failed NOVA Corp.’s thousands of unpaid teachers, hundreds of thousands of paying students left without classes and billions of yen in debt have been well-documented, but Shukan Asahi (11/9) notes an important question about the English conversation chain remains unanswered: What’s going to happen to the NOVA bunny? NOVA grew to become Japan’s biggest English…
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Nova teachers offer classes for food
A union representing teachers of Nova Corp. said Thursday its ranks will soon launch a “Lesson-for-Food” campaign in which they will offer free classes to students of the failed foreign-language school chain in exchange for basic food or meals. The union said in Tokyo that it has also started accepting donations to help Nova teachers…
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Ex-NOVA president Sahashi denies fleecing company over videophone sales
NOVA Corp. founder Nozomu Sahashi denies having illegally profited from the sale of overpriced videophone equipment to the firm, according to his lawyer. Receivers for NOVA are considering filing a criminal complaint with law enforcers accusing Sahashi, 56, the sacked president of the company, of aggravated breach of trust for unfairly profiting from the sale…
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Nova share trading shady near the end
Boss unloaded amid volume, price flux Irregular transactions took place in the trading of shares in Nova Corp. in late August and early September ? well before the ailing foreign language school chain was put under court protection for rehabilitation last week, market sources said Thursday. The large volume of transactions and wild price fluctuations…