Posts Tagged ‘nova’

The Nova usagi is back

English language school chain Nova has a new commercial for its kids’ classes:

The end of the commercial adds a “G Com before the familiar Nova jingle, perhaps as a reminder to viewers that this is Nova is different from the Nova that ripped off so many former students.

Related Story: Former Nova president Nozomu Sahashi was sentenced to three years, six months in prison yesterday for embezzling some 320 million yen in company funds.

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Ex-Nova president faces arrest for not paying employees

Ex-Nova president Nozomu Sahashi is going to be arrested and charged for deliberately making his employees work with the full knowledge that his company was going under and that no wages could be paid to the workers:

The labor ministry’s regional bureau is planning to send information to prosecutors possibly later this week on Nozomu Sahashi, former president of bankrupt English-language school chain Nova Corp., on suspicion of nonpayment of wages to language instructors in violation of the Labor Standard Law, informed sources said Monday.

Osaka prefectural police, meanwhile, are also planning to launch investigations, possibly on Tuesday, to build a criminal case against Sahashi, 56, for alleged embezzlement of fringe benefit provisions for employees at what was once the largest English-language school chain in Japan, the sources said.

According to the sources, the wage allegations concern a total of around 100 million yen in salary that should have been paid to around 400 instructors and staffers who worked for Nova nationwide last September and October. The amount represents one of the largest cases of nonpayment of regular wages in Japan.

But in the two-month period, it is known that around 8,000 Nova employees did not receive salary payments totaling 1.8 billion yen, the sources said. Unpaid wages are thought to rise to 4.1 billion yen in all if the period after October, when Nova went bust, is included in the computation.

Sahashi told the labor ministry’s Osaka bureau that he did the best he could to make payments by even using his own personal assets but the bureau concluded that he continued running the company knowing that he would not be able to meet salary payments, the sources said.

The bureau is not seeking responsibility of other executives because Sahashi was in full control of management, the sources said.

Nova used staff welfare fund to pay debts

Not exactly the best way to look after the welfare of your employees:

OSAKA–About 300 million yen contributed by employees of the bankrupt language school chain Nova Corp. to a staff welfare fund was transferred to a company bank account in July to cover operating costs and done without the approval of employees, the police have said.

According to the police, former Nova president Nozomu Sahashi ordered the transfer of the entire balance of the fund to a Nova business account to allow the payment of refunds to students who had canceled contracts with the financially troubled firm.

The police are investigating the case as possible embezzlement in the course of business by Sahashi, who owned the affiliate firm that handled the money transfer.

For more on the continuing Nova mess, check out LetsJapan and GComm NOVA blog.

Is Tatsuya Ichihashi Cross-Dressing To Avoid Police?

It’s been almost a year since Lindsay Ann Hawker was brutally murdered in Chiba Prefecture, and the man who killed her has yet to be captured. Japanese police have demonstrated to the media that they are still looking for chief suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi by publicizing the release of a new wanted poster. The poster includes two new images of how Ichihashi may have disguised himself:

If you think you’ve seen the man in these pictures, please contact:

Chiba Prefectural Police, Gyoutoku
047-397-0110
gyoutoku@police.pref.chiba.jp

Nova Expanding Into University Education?

News from LetsJapan.org:

Strange but true, g.education announced plans to open a Nova school on the campus of Aichi Gakuin University in April.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun, the opening of a private business on a university campus is almost unheard of. The article notes that the president of g.communication, Masaki Inayoshi, is a graduate of Aichi Gakuin and apparently this connection was used to help set up a Nova school with the university in order to boost the English ability on campus. The new Nova school will use the current 9-level curriculum and offer lessons at a discount to university staff and students.

Yuri Morishita Lost 2 Million Yen in Nova Collapse

An article in Mainichi’s Japanese edition today mentions that gravure Idol Yuri Morishita [pictured above] admitted that she lost a huge sum of money when English conversation school chain Nova went bankrupt. She told reporters that she had bought 2 million yen [$17,800 US dollars] lesson package, but only had to the time to take 3 lessons before Nova collapsed. Much like thousands of other Nova students, she will get no refund for pre-paid lessons. Morishita said losing all that money has been the biggest shock of her life.