People are unconcerned about the increased surveillance in society as they are not being detained and do not feel any pain over being secretly watched. It's a gradual erosion of privacy which I don't think is healthy.
OSAKA — Lawyers for former Nova Corp President Nozomu Sahashi on Monday submitted a petition to a local court rebutting allegations that the head of the foreign language school operator had used the Osaka-based company to benefit his own wealth and lifestyle.
The document submitted to the Osaka District Court also said Sahashi has "serious doubts" about a report issued Oct 30 by a court-appointed Nova administrator on the company's financial state and that he demands a reinvestigation based on its accounting records.
During a news conference on Oct 30, the administrator allowed the media inside the president's suite at Nova's administrative headquarters in Osaka to show "an example of Sahashi using the company to benefit himself."
The 330-square-meter executive suite on the 20th floor houses a red-carpeted reception room and private quarters including a dining room with a large-screen TV, a bathroom with sauna, a Japanese-style tea room and a room with a double bed.
Sahashi said in his petition that the luxurious president's chambers were created as a model home office to demonstrate the advantages of such a space, and that he planned to use the tea room for trial language lessons at the school.
He also said the reported monthly rent of some 2.7 million for the suite was for the entire floor and that the actual rent for the suite was about one-third of the reported amount.
Sahashi further denied reports that he had received some 300 million yen in annual compensation while the company itself incurred losses, saying he only received "120 million yen at the most" as stock dividends have not been paid.
Sahashi likewise flatly denied accusations that irregular transactions took place in the trading of Nova shares in August and September before it was put under court protection for rehabilitation on Oct 26.
On Aug 29, Nova's share price on the Jasdaq Securities Exchange in Tokyo plunged to 29 yen from above 40 yen and later fluctuated wildly, peaking above 60 yen, while the daily trading volume of the shares suddenly rose to 10 million shares after ranging from 100,000 shares to 1.7 million shares. On Sept 7, the trading volume swelled to 60 million shares.
The large volume of transactions and wild price fluctuations came in the absence of factors encouraging investors to buy or sell Nova shares, market sources said. Nova, meanwhile, said Sahashi sold a massive number of shares in September and failed to fulfill a legal requirement to report to authorities any major changes in shareholdings.
The petition said, "There is no fact to reports that Sahashi sold Nova shares," adding that he had borrowed money for the company from security houses giving his Nova shares as collateral. Sahashi also said he had fulfilled the legal requirement.
The petition also denied allegations of dubious trading of video-phone equipment for use by students.
The administrator had said an Osaka-based company under Sahashi's effective control had sold such equipment to Nova at prices far higher than their original procurement prices.
Sahashi's petition said he had actually offered a huge amount of his personal assets to the company and that he was preparing to raise about 10 billion yen through capital increases and refunds of tenant deposits for classrooms following the elimination and integration of classrooms nationwide after September.
