ATTN FORMER NOVA TEACHERS

[allblacks]

Great stuff. Everyone should check their bank accounts! Ill even check mine! Come on Nova! Pay me a gratuity for being an ex-Novelty!

[Kuronama]

Yeeah! I got my money

And have already spent it

[purple_duckk]

I assume you two are in Japan. Anyone outside of Japan get their money yet?

[akane20]

Got mine too! Woo hoo! ^.^

[steki47]

Just checked this morning-money was deposited!

[Namekuji]

Its made it to New Zealand too! The whole lot. chur bros

[purple_duckk]

Alright! Mine showed up in the States this morning! Thanks Zombie Nova!

[Japandy]

Nothing for me yet in the UK although a colleague received his yesterday. Will send the trustees a fax tomorrow!

[mahoney]

Still no cash for myself and a friend here in OZ. Another mate received his on Friday.

[Japandy]

Still zilch for me. Have asked tham to re-issue the forms. Anyone else in the same boat?

[sampler]

Yeah, nothing for me either. At the start of December they had contacted me saying I needed to send extra documentation -- I had requested they deposit to a Japanese net bank which I guess freaked them out a bit.

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EDIT

Got paid and spent it already

[Japandy]

Any updates? I contacted them via fax several weeks ago and received nothing in return. Seems they are about as organised as the former company they represent....

[sampler]

I contacted them via fax several weeks ago and received nothing in return

I faxed them and they phoned me the next day -- I wrote the fax in Japanese and the woman who called only spoke Japanese....

[allblacks]

BUMP

Some people seem to miss this thread and ask about this in others. If I could make it a sticky I would.

[Minnesotajin]

I received my money too, but not all of it. Only 950USD. Anyone else in the same situation as me? I see some people posted they received all their money. I know it said in my paperwork that I would receive my money in four or so installments.

[ZeusBeard]

Received my letter today telling me I can claim even more money back from the death of NOVA. I'm pleasantly surprised as the first time I went through these proceedings I was given more than I thought I was owed. Not that I'm complaining mind! Yey!

P.S. Reading a few of these, am I right in thinking that I'm on for a long wait regarding these funds?

[MrX]

Received my letter today telling me I can claim even more money back from the death of NOVA. I'm pleasantly surprised as the first time I went through these proceedings I was given more than I thought I was owed. Not that I'm complaining mind! Yey!

P.S. Reading a few of these, am I right in thinking that I'm on for a long wait regarding these funds?

Is this the first time they've contacted you after the first payment of the wages you were due? The letter I got in October said I'd be getting some money in December and possibly more later. I wonder if they're now close to paying everyone the rest of what we're owed. I'd like to think it'll involve taking away everything Saruhashi has, selling it and giving us the proceeds.

[SamhainP8]

Found a nice extra sum in my account

[MrX]

Found a nice extra sum in my account

When, may I ask? Is this in addition to money you've been paid already?

[allblacks]

Didnt you say you didnt want any more mate?

[SamhainP8]

I just got back to j-land so the money is from the dec payments I guess. I'm well ahead now and owe the bean counter a beer or two. If they want to keep giving me money I'll keep taking it as we're bleeding cash ATM....

[Minnesotajin]

[/quote]

Received my letter today telling me I can claim even more money back from the death of NOVA. I'm pleasantly surprised as the first time I went through these proceedings I was given more than I thought I was owed. Not that I'm complaining mind! Yey!

P.S. Reading a few of these, am I right in thinking that I'm on for a long wait regarding these funds?

Is this the first time they've contacted you after the first payment of the wages you were due? The letter I got in October said I'd be getting some money in December and possibly more later. I wonder if they're now close to paying everyone the rest of what we're owed. I'd like to think it'll involve taking away everything Saruhashi has, selling it and giving us the proceeds.

I received around 400,000 yen from the government when I was there, but this is the first time I received cash from NOVA. Yes same letter in October. I am hoping there will be more payments. My letter made it sound like there would be more payments too.

[MrX]

I received around 400,000 yen from the government when I was there, but this is the first time I received cash from NOVA. Yes same letter in October. I am hoping there will be more payments. My letter made it sound like there would be more payments too.

I guess there'll be another letter when there are more developments, as I think they'll also need to send everyone more payment request forms. I'm not holding my breath for it though.

[TheJesusMemo]

Hey All,

Since the NOVA fiasco I went to law school and although I haven't finished I have taken a bankruptcy course. Guessing that Japanese law is similar to American Chapter 7 bankruptcy (which is a fairly good guess because "America is the world's leader in bankruptcy law" according to... well, Americans. lol) Here is what I am guessing has happened and will happen.

When an entity goes bankrupt the bankrupt estate receiver (i.e. the lawyers) can request that any "fraudulent transfers" from something like 6 months to 2 years before the bankruptcy be canceled. In this case I am guessing that was mainly the sale of the Ginganet stuff that Saruhashi did just before the bankruptcy. I remember that got talked about as being something they would try to claw back and the biggest source of assets the company had. So that is probably where the funds came from.

Generally a debtor can collect only on debts owed to them but debtors come in classes. Employees are the first in line for businesses. Nobody else gets paid anything until they get paid everything. Yes the government gave us 80%, but that still leaves 20% of the debt owed to be made good before any other classes of debtors get paid. That was the previous round.

Here is where I am really guessing. The first round of payments would have been based on the idea that the entire class of ex-employees would collect. So they divided up the assets by the total number of employees. Obviously most of the foreign teachers have disappeared and I'll bet couldn't be contacted. Now there are two options:
(1) divide the remaining assets, basically those that our fellows didn't collect, among those who have been found. This would work under the provisions that debtor only gets paid if they come forward to make a claim. Don't make a claim and you forfeit your right to payment. In this scenario there will definitely be a second payment. Depending on the number of people who filed claims the second one could be pretty good.
(2) the bankrupt estate will sit on the money until the debtors come forward to claim it or some statutory period. Who knows, that could be twenty years that the money will just sit around, essentially earning no interest. In this scenario a significant second payment is pretty unlikely.

Obviously I'm hoping for the first scenario. Again that is all based on American law but from what I received from the NOVA lawyers, etc, it seems like that is a pretty fair guess at what has happened and will later.

If anybody hears anything about a second payment I'm dying to hear about it!

[allblacks]

Welcome back! Nice to see you around LJ! Good luck in your studies! ABs

[sampler]

Weren't there loads of other losers though? People who let their buildings as Nova schools and weren't paid for the last few months? Advertising agencies who didn't receive their dues and so on?

From what I remember, the first to get a slice of pie were always going to be the workers who lost salary, then the above and finally .... the students who lost (in some cases) very sizable amounts and can't realistically be expecting much if anything at all.

It beggars belief that if there is cash left over they will just consider it as a bonus to the employees who have made a claim. Still, stranger things have happened. What an unjust world this is.

[TheJesusMemo]

Weren't there loads of other losers though? People who let their buildings as Nova schools and weren't paid for the last few months? Advertising agencies who didn't receive their dues and so on?

From what I remember, the first to get a slice of pie were always going to be the workers who lost salary, then the above and finally .... the students who lost (in some cases) very sizable amounts and can't realistically be expecting much if anything at all.

It beggars belief that if there is cash left over they will just consider it as a bonus to the employees who have made a claim. Still, stranger things have happened. What an unjust world this is.

It's not a bonus. We are still owed 20%. The justification usually given for such unfair outcomes is that the lenders and everyone else know the risks when they make loans, lease land, etc., and price that into everything. The other rational is that employees have a greater right to payment/are hurt more than others. Employees generally have only one source of income and are immediately in financial pain. Advertisers generally have a lot of clients and not getting paid by one won't sink the business. You might be thinking we will get a bonus in that we will see more than the pay we should have received. That won't happen. Each person who puts in a claim gets their share pro rata until the claims are satisfied to 100%. Then they go to the next class of lenders.

The government never claimed to have satisfied our claims against the bankrupt estate. They only gave us 80%. The bankrupt estate won't pay us another 100%. The bankrupt estate will only make up the other 20%.

Again though that is American law. Japan could do it differently. However I can tell you that I was told that these situations are where the saying "pennies on the dollar" came from.

[TheJesusMemo]

It's not a bonus. We are still owed 20%.

Sorry, I should say that those of us who filed for the latest round of payments are probably now owed something like 15%. We were owed 20%.

Welcome back! Nice to see you around LJ! Good luck in your studies! ABs

Thanks!