Mafia Prize goes to Busan! And More Nova woes...

More Than 11,000 Mobbed Up Nationwide
Chosun Ilbo
The number of organized gang members prosecutors are keeping an eye on topped 11,000 across the nation. According to the report submitted by Justice Ministry to Rep. Choi Byung-gook of Grand National Party on Monday, 11,476 members from 471 organized gangs are on the supervision list of prosecutors. Among them, 167 groups were deemed criminal organizations by courts. Busan district prosecutors had the most on their hands with 1,833 gang members from 101 groups, followed by 1,581 members from 45 groups in Suwon, 1,542 from 33 groups in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province and 1,193 members from 81 groups in central Seoul.

Prosecutors name two reasons why there are more mobsters on the Busan list than in Seoul. One is that Busan offers more opportunities for extortion with its busy sea port, and the other is that organized criminals in the southern city often carry their activities in public, making it easy for police and prosecutors to spot them. “In Seoul, organized gangs go underground and camouflage their activities as a business,” a prosecutor said. “But Busan-based organized gangs often engage in violence even in public places.” Last January, three syndicates attacked the largest local gang at Youngrak Garden funeral home in Busan and 50 gangsters were arrested.

Gangsters are often arrested in turf wars and while extorting money from traders. Last February in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, members of the Suwon Southgate gang attacked a place where rival gangsters were staying; four died or were wounded in the attack. In the first half of this year, 75 gangsters were arrested for major offenses.


Nova Instructors Forced To Teach Retarded And Mentally Disabled
Japan Probe
Nova teachers with seemingly little to lose and possibly just wanting to relieve the stress of dealing with possible termination and non-payment of salaries, have turned to Internet forums and blogs to communicate their frustrations with their employer. One very interesting fact that has recently come to light is that apparently some teachers at Nova were forced to teach retarded and mentally disabled customers often together with normal students. Reports of stalking of teachers, threats, assaults and various odd and abnormal behavior from students has many wondering what sort of operation is/was Nova running.

Here is one especially detailed account from Nova teacher CynicalBeyondReason :
Students routinely showed up drunk, passed out or fell asleep in class. There were three cases of foreigners being stalked by Nova customers (2 of them female customers), one of which made strange, violent threats when the object of her infatuation was transferred (”I will destroy the city!”). In ALL of these cases, despite the endless complaints by us that went all the way to the AAM level, nothing was EVER done in any of these cases. Not ONE of these “students” was ever asked to leave. And this is not restricted to Nova, because I have acquaintances that work at small eikaiwa that tell me EXACTLY THE SAME THINGS HAPPEN THERE.”

It seems cases of stalking and threats are more commonplace at Nova than previously thought. One recent case that turned tragic Lindsay Hawker comes to mind, where here stalker lured her into his apartment under the guise of private lessons only to murder her and dump her body in a bathtub filled with dirt. Despite widespread publication of the suspects picture by police and authorities, he remains at large. The authorities have been accused of bungled police work in that case by letting the suspect escape bare footed out a window as 10 officers arrived to his front door.

What is disturbing in the accounts of some Nova teachers is the lack of concern or responsibility by upper level management in dealing with these cases. Many complain of being ‘chewed out’ by staff when they failed to handle what were obviously bad situations and even in some cases dangerous.

Too true, but the other eikaiwa schools don’t take it to the extremes that Nova does.
We had an obviously insane woman show up for a demo lesson.

Borderline psychos are still perfectly acceptable, and the stalking problem is both rampant and largely ignored. But that is more the fault of the lazy-ass Japanese police, who even when called up by the eikaiwa management, will cuss out the stalkee for getting stalked rather than arrest the stalker (they wouldn’t even arrest a stalker who actually attacked a teacher in the middle of a lesson! School knew he had been a stalker, too, but don’t know how they’d handle his contract because he did the honorable thing and killed himself the next day after a mere talking to by the cops. Problem solved).
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Policeman shot in butt with own gun while battling porn vending machine bandits
TAGAWA, Fukuoka -- A police officer is in a serious condition after being shot in the buttocks with his own pistol while scuffling with porno vending machine thieves here Friday, police said.

The 29-year-old sergeant from Tagawa Police Station is being treated for the wound to his buttocks.

Two men have been arrested for robbery resulting in injury in connection with the case.

Police said the sergeant was one of three policemen to rush to the scene after a security company informed them that somebody was tampering with a pornography vending machine in an isolated part of Tagawa just before 4:30 a.m. Friday.

The officers reached the vending machine to find two men trying to break into it.

A scuffle arose and one of the men took out the sergeant's gun, firing it and sending a bullet slamming into the police officer's bottom.

Mainichi Daily News



Gov't to order Nova to refund tuition for canceled lessons
Japan Today

TOKYO — The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to order scandal-hit English-language school operator Nova Corp to promptly pay back tuition fees to customers who cancel lessons in accordance with their contracts, government officials said Tuesday.

The same day, the labor union assisting teachers at Nova requested that the ministry, which oversees the industry, take action to secure the teachers' employment and prevent further damage to students.

A report filed Tuesday by Nova with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, meanwhile, showed that the company has raised about 70 million yen through issuing equity warrants, apparently aiming to finance office rents, personnel expenses and other operation costs. Read More...