Kazutsugi Nami
Kazutsugi Nami (波 和二, Nami Kazutsugi, b. 19 May 1933 in Mie Prefecture) is a Japanese businessman and chairman of Tokyo-based bedding supplier Ladies & Gentlemen (L&G).[1] He has been involved in a number of fraudulent schemes since the 1970s, and was arrested most recently on 4 February 2009 on suspicion of orchestrating a massive investor fraud involving the "Enten" quasi-currency.[2]
In spite of the serious accusations agaisnt him ( thousands of people have reportedly lost money amounting to upwards of 1.2 billion US $ ) he insists that he is innocent, claiming himself of being victim, and not the villian of the case, reminding the media, who are already calling him the Japanese equilant of the American Bernard Madoff, that high returns in business comes with equally high risks. Mr. Nami likes to compare himself with Oda Nobunaga, a well-known Japanese overlord of bygone era, and hopes that one day his Enten will be a legal tender not only for Japan but the whole world.
APO Japan
In the 1970s, Nami became vice president of APO Japan Co., an auto equipment sales company in Tokyo. The company was involved in a pyramid scheme, collecting investments from about 250,000 people in a scam based on sales of exhaust gas removal devices. The company's operations became a social problem, and it went bankrupt in 1975.[3]
Nozakku
Shortly before the bankruptcy of APO Japan in 1975, Nami established Nozakku Co., a company which sold "magic stones" that were claimed to turn tapwater into natural water. The company's annual sales reached more than 2 billion yen a year before it too went bankrupt in 1978. Nami was arrested on suspicion of fraud, and was sentenced to prison.[3]
L&G and "Enten"
After being released from prison, Nami established the Tokyo-based bedding company L&G in August 1987. The company allegedly derived its income from a pyramid scheme.[3] At L&G, he invented the "Enten" quasi-currency (literally meaning Divine Money in Japanese). He was arrested in Tokyo on 4 February 2009 on suspicion of large-scale investor fraud along with twenty-one of his associates.[1]
References
- ^ a b "L&G execs arrested over investor fraud". The Japan Times. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Arrests made in what could be biggest investment scam in Japanese history". The Guardian. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c "L&G boss boasted of economic know-how, employed ruthless management style". The Yomiuri Shimbun. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
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