Ex-coach accused of defrauding scholarship students
Nihon University's facility that houses its weightlifting team's practice facility in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on June 3 (Noriki Nishioka)
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on June 10 arrested Kenji Nanba, 63, a former head coach of Nihon University's weightlifting team, on suspicion of defrauding the parents of scholarship students who planned to join the team.
According to investigative sources, in December 2022, Nanba allegedly lied to four parents of prospective team members that he had applied to the university for their children as scholarship students and told them that they would not be charged tuition or other fees after their second year.
Then, Nanba, a resident of Komae, western Tokyo, is accused of defrauding them of a total of 2.05 million yen ($14,200) in admission fees, tuition, and facility and equipment funds.
Scholarship recipients are determined by the university's headquarters and are essentially exempt from paying admission and tuition fees.
According to investigative sources, Nanba collected approximately 38 million yen from 48 parents of scholarship students enrolled from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2024.
According to the university, Nanba spent much of the defrauded money for personal purposes.
By last year, the university had refunded the money to the affected scholarship recipients and others.
However, in a civil lawsuit filed by the university against Nanba, the former coach claimed that the money he received from the scholarship recipients was a 'donation.'
Nanba said, 'Applicants who had difficulty in raising the admission fee or who had potential but had not proven themselves were treated as scholarship recipients if they first paid a donation. I only accepted the donation with the consent from their parents.'
The university first disclosed this issue in July 2024.
It revealed that Nanba sent an enrollment guide and invoice for payment to the parents of scholarship students with false information, such as 'exemption from payments starts from the second year,' and had them transfer the money to the team's account.
The university dismissed Nanba from his position and reported him to Tokyo police.
The university's weightlifting team was founded in 1961.
It has won the national intercollegiate championships more than 20 times, including back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024.
The powerhouse team has also produced Olympic medalists in the past. Nanba had served as the head coach of the team since fiscal 2000.
The scandal is the latest to plague sports teams and the administration at Nihon University.
A subsequent internal investigation uncovered similar financial irregularities in the university's track and field and skating clubs.
The track and field club had improperly collected approximately 44 million yen from 25 students, while the skating club had inappropriately garnered approximately 24 million yen from 29 students.
In both cases, the university refunded the money to the victims.
The university said its internal investigation did not confirm any personal use of the money by officials of these teams.
According to investigative sources, the Metropolitan Police Department has not received any complaints regarding the two teams.
After these problems were discovered, the university released a statement on its website, 'We deeply apologize to the affected team members, former team members, and their parents. We are determined to cut off the roots of the scandal and promote improvements and reforms.'
In 2018, a malicious late hit on an opposing team's quarterback by a player on Nihon University's American football team became a highly publicized social problem.
In 2021, the then university's chancellor was arrested on tax evasion charges.
In 2023, the members of the American football team and others were caught up in an illegal drug case accused of cannabis possession and use of other illicit drugs. The scandal prompted the university to disband the football team.
(This article was written by Arata Mitsui and Noriki Nishioka.)
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Japan Times
12 hours ago
- Japan Times
Ex-Nihon University weightlifting manager allegedly forced staff to give him rides
A former manager of Nihon University's weightlifting club who was arrested for fraudulently collecting school fees from scholarship students also forced coaches to drive him to and from work, Metropolitan Police said Wednesday. Kenji Nanba, 63, allegedly used his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides. He is believed to have instructed several coaches to chauffeur him between his home in the city of Komae, Tokyo, and the university's campus in the city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa — a round trip of nearly 80 kilometers. He also allegedly made coaches greet him upon his arrival at the university, run errands such as buying lunch, and harshly reprimanded those who challenged his instructions. According to investigators, Nanba abused his influence as manager over personnel decisions, making it difficult for staff to defy his demands. Nanba was arrested Tuesday for defrauding ¥2.05 million ($14,000) from the scholarship students. Although tuition and other fees were supposed to be partially or fully waived for the students, he allegedly sent their parents inflated invoices for entrance and school fees. Under Nanba's direction, a coach in his 40s created the fraudulent invoices, determining the inflated amounts, police said. Parents were instructed to transfer the money to the club's bank account. A portion of the funds was then allegedly handed over to Nanba, with the rest paid to the university under the students' names. Police also found evidence that Nanba reviewed the invoices before they were sent. Nanba has denied the allegations, telling police: 'I received the money with the parents' consent, under the understanding it was a donation.' A graduate of Nihon University himself, Nanba became a middle school teacher in Yamagata Prefecture after graduating and was appointed manager of the weightlifting club in April 2000. He produced multiple Olympic athletes and earned a reputation as a respected manager. In parallel, he served as a professor in the university's College of Bioresource Sciences, where students reportedly viewed him as approachable and kind. However, within the weightlifting team, Nanba held what investigators and university officials described as absolute power. In a civil lawsuit demanding restitution of the funds he allegedly embezzled, Nihon University stated that Nanba had been 'an unshakable authority figure' whose word could not be opposed by either coaches or athletes. Nanba was also rumored to have had close ties with Hidetoshi Tanaka, the late former university chairman known as the 'Don of Nihon University,' a figure associated with corruption scandals. This relationship reportedly helped Nanba ascend unusually quickly to a professorship. Nanba's ability to allegedly defraud funds was facilitated by a long-standing, unauthorized practice at Nihon University which allowed coaches and managers of some athletic clubs to directly collect tuition and fees from students' families — a system that police believe may have enabled fraudulent activity. According to university officials, some clubs bypassed the school's official payment channels by asking parents to deposit entrance and tuition fees into club-controlled bank accounts. These funds were then transferred to the university, but without its oversight or approval. Despite repeated notices since around 2014 instructing all athletic departments to cease this practice, an internal probe conducted last year found that proxy collection remained in use by at least nine athletic clubs, including the weightlifting, basketball, and cycling clubs, While no personal misuse of funds was confirmed outside the weightlifting club, officials admitted the system lacked transparency. In the ongoing civil lawsuit filed by Nihon University seeking the return of improperly collected funds from Nanba, he said that it was common practice in some athletic clubs to admit underqualified students in exchange for agreed-upon 'donations.' Translated by The Japan Times
Asahi Shimbun
2 days ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Ex-coach accused of defrauding scholarship students
Nihon University's facility that houses its weightlifting team's practice facility in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on June 3 (Noriki Nishioka) The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on June 10 arrested Kenji Nanba, 63, a former head coach of Nihon University's weightlifting team, on suspicion of defrauding the parents of scholarship students who planned to join the team. According to investigative sources, in December 2022, Nanba allegedly lied to four parents of prospective team members that he had applied to the university for their children as scholarship students and told them that they would not be charged tuition or other fees after their second year. Then, Nanba, a resident of Komae, western Tokyo, is accused of defrauding them of a total of 2.05 million yen ($14,200) in admission fees, tuition, and facility and equipment funds. Scholarship recipients are determined by the university's headquarters and are essentially exempt from paying admission and tuition fees. According to investigative sources, Nanba collected approximately 38 million yen from 48 parents of scholarship students enrolled from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2024. According to the university, Nanba spent much of the defrauded money for personal purposes. By last year, the university had refunded the money to the affected scholarship recipients and others. However, in a civil lawsuit filed by the university against Nanba, the former coach claimed that the money he received from the scholarship recipients was a 'donation.' Nanba said, 'Applicants who had difficulty in raising the admission fee or who had potential but had not proven themselves were treated as scholarship recipients if they first paid a donation. I only accepted the donation with the consent from their parents.' The university first disclosed this issue in July 2024. It revealed that Nanba sent an enrollment guide and invoice for payment to the parents of scholarship students with false information, such as 'exemption from payments starts from the second year,' and had them transfer the money to the team's account. The university dismissed Nanba from his position and reported him to Tokyo police. The university's weightlifting team was founded in 1961. It has won the national intercollegiate championships more than 20 times, including back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024. The powerhouse team has also produced Olympic medalists in the past. Nanba had served as the head coach of the team since fiscal 2000. The scandal is the latest to plague sports teams and the administration at Nihon University. A subsequent internal investigation uncovered similar financial irregularities in the university's track and field and skating clubs. The track and field club had improperly collected approximately 44 million yen from 25 students, while the skating club had inappropriately garnered approximately 24 million yen from 29 students. In both cases, the university refunded the money to the victims. The university said its internal investigation did not confirm any personal use of the money by officials of these teams. According to investigative sources, the Metropolitan Police Department has not received any complaints regarding the two teams. After these problems were discovered, the university released a statement on its website, 'We deeply apologize to the affected team members, former team members, and their parents. We are determined to cut off the roots of the scandal and promote improvements and reforms.' In 2018, a malicious late hit on an opposing team's quarterback by a player on Nihon University's American football team became a highly publicized social problem. In 2021, the then university's chancellor was arrested on tax evasion charges. In 2023, the members of the American football team and others were caught up in an illegal drug case accused of cannabis possession and use of other illicit drugs. The scandal prompted the university to disband the football team. (This article was written by Arata Mitsui and Noriki Nishioka.)
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Former manager of Nihon University weightlifting club arrested over fraud
Tokyo police arrested a former manager of Nihon University's weightlifting club on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding the club's scholarship students of money, including by claiming the funds would go towards tuition fees. Kenji Nanba, 63, was arrested on suspicion of swindling four scholarship students out of a total of ¥2.05 million in December 2022 by saying that the money included facility costs, from which they were actually exempt. Police believe that Nanba has collected a total of about ¥38 million from 48 students over 10 years by telling similar lies. He is believed to have used swindled money to buy business suits and bags and to cover the cost of painting his luxury BMW car. According to the university, Nanba began such scams around 20 years ago or earlier, receiving a total of ¥53.2 million. The university detected the fraud during an investigation into a separate scandal, and it has fully compensated 58 parents of former club members whom it confirmed as victims. Following his arrest, the university said in a statement that it deeply apologizes to society and will continue to fully cooperate with investigative authorities. Nanba became the club's manager in April 2000. After the fraud came to light, the university dismissed him in July 2024 and consulted with police. Established in 1965, the university's weightlifting club has won the national intercollegiate championships 23 times and produced many Olympic athletes.
