Nozomu Sahashi, former president of bankrupt Nova Corp., was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of misusing some ¥320 million of the company's funds held in reserve for employee welfare programs.
The Osaka Prefectural Police served the warrant for the alleged embezzlement after questioning the 56-year-old Sahashi on a voluntary basis starting in the morning.
Sahashi, who headed what was once Japan's largest English-language school chain, is suspected of diverting the ¥320 million in reserve funds, set up specifically for employee benefits, last July 20 to Nova through an affiliate firm that he effectively owned.