Crooked Lawyer Feels He's Taken Enough Responsibility

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]Mainichi: Lawyer who quit over shady debt collections applies for license again
Former Lawyer Kohei Nakabo, who resigned 16 months ago to take responsibility for inappropriate debt collections by a government-backed body he had headed, has recently applied to be registered as a lawyer again, it has been learned. His move is likely to stir controversy as prosecutors had decided not to indict him for fraud on the grounds that he had resigned as a lawyer...more...

[Doctor Stop]

Main Entry: law-yer
Pronunciation: 'lo-yer, 'loi-er
Function: noun
: (see main entry at crooked)

[amdg]

From businessweek Online, June 14, 1999.

Kohei Nakabo, President, Resolution & Collection Corp., Japan (int'l edition)


PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN JAPANESE bankers is at an all-time low. No wonder. They're responsible for stacking up an estimated $1 trillion in bad loans. So the government has turned to Kohei Nakabo. Although he has no background in finance, the feisty 69-year-old lawyer has proved to be Japan's most talented debt collector and one of the country's most trusted public figures.

Since 1996, Nakabo has tackled the debt problem of the failed jusen, or housing-loan firms, recovering $13 billion in dud loans. On Apr. 1, he became head of the Resolution & Collection Corp. Formed through the merger of two public collection agencies, the RCC is charged with taking over outstanding bank loans and collecting on them. Nakabo will continue to use his proven tactics--filing lawsuits and directly confronting renegade borrowers.

Honest and conscientious, Nakabo has refused to accept payment for his public work for the past three years. But his debt-collecting days are drawing to a close. He plans to resign in August on his 70th birthday. His legacy is proof of how a piece of Japan's bank problem can be solved.