OSAKA — The former president of Nova Corp. admitted Monday he siphoned off employment benefit funds just before the language school giant went bankrupt in 2007 but pleaded not guilty to embezzlement, claiming he used the funds for employees.
Nozomu Sahashi, 57, who once headed one of Japan's largest and most popular English conversation school chains, is charged with funneling nearly ¥320 million from employment benefit funds in July 2007 by transferring the money to a bank account belonging to an affiliate, which has not been named.
"I apologize to the students and employees for all of the trouble I caused, but it was not my intention to do wrong," Sahashi told the Osaka District Court at the opening of his trial. "I don't think I can judge whether what I did constitutes embezzlement or not."