The head of a Japanese bedding firm was arrested yesterday over a scam that media said collected more than €1 billion from tens of thousands of investors with promises of sky-high returns and offerings of "yen from heaven".
Police said 22 people, including L&G bedding supplier chairman Kazutsugi Nami, 75, were arrested on suspicion of committing fraud by collecting 118 million yen (€1.03 million) from six clients in 2006 despite knowing they could not pay promised returns.
Japanese media, citing police investigators, said the executives had gathered some 126 billion yen (€1.1 billion) from about 37,000 people between 2000 and 2007 with promises of a 36 per cent annual return on investment.
Mr Nami denied any wrongdoing in front of crowds of reporters and TV cameras.
The firm is now in the midst of bankruptcy procedures, Kyodo news agency said.
Princess trying to resume duties
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito yesterday said his wife, who is suffering from stress-related mental illness, is doing her best to fully resume her duties and asked for understanding of her health problems.
Crown Princess Masako, a 45-year-old former diplomat educated at Harvard and Oxford, has been suffering for several years from a mental disorder caused by the difficulty of adjusting to the restrictions of palace life.
She will not accompany her husband on his first visit to Vietnam, which starts on Monday.
"Masako is doing her best to be able to resume as many official duties as possible, so I would like to ask you to watch over her with kindness and take a long-term view," Prince Naruhito told a news conference at his residence in Tokyo.
Princess Masako had once hoped to use her diplomatic skills as a sort of "royal envoy", but her activities were restrained by court officials, royal watchers have said.
Tycoons lose more than half their riches
Hong Kong's 40 richest men have lost over half their combined wealth as the global economic meltdown takes its toll on the capitalist haven's free-wheeling billionaires, but kingpin Li Ka-shing still holds the top spot.
Mr Li, dubbed "Superman", saw almost half his wealth whittled away to leave him with $16.2 billion (€12.6 billion), Forbes Magazine says in its "Hong Kong's 40 richest" list for 2009.
The head of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, Mr Li, 80, who fled Japanese-occupied China in 1940, built a plastic flower business into a diversified global business empire.
The fortunes of Hong Kong's top 40 richest plunged from $179 billion a year ago to $82 billion according to Forbes.
The number of billionaires fell from over 40 to 19.
Two's company on 'ghost train'
Millions of Chinese cram trains to get to their home provinces for the Lunar New Year break, with tickets selling out fast, so it came as a surprise to two holidaymakers who found they were the only passengers.
The Chinese New Year break, or Spring Festival, is the biggest of two "Golden Week" holidays which give migrant workers their only chance of the year to return home with gifts for their families.
Standing-room if you are lucky only is the norm for many on journeys that can last days across the huge country, but these two had the whole train to themselves.
"There was no one and there was not enough heating or light," the Beijing Youth Daily quoted a passenger surnamed Zhang as saying. "When the train went through a tunnel, it was pitch black. It was like a ghost train."
It turned out that train L342, bound for Beijing from freezing Shanxi province last Wednesday, had been laid on as a "temporary" train to ease the crush, with no standard tickets or departure time, the newspaper said. Only the two men had climbed aboard and the driver, for reasons known only to himself, had set off for Beijing.
Caucasian to run for Taiwan Parliament
An American-born caucasian is running for Taiwan's Parliament next month, a first for the island, to fill a seat vacated over a flap involving the previous lawmaker's US citizenship.
Robin Winkler, a Taipei-based lawyer, environmental activist and Taiwan citizen since 2003, will run against a favoured ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate to fill a seat vacated by Diane Lee over questions about possible dual citizenship.
Mr Winkler would be the first caucasian to run for Parliament in Taiwan, which is 98 per cent ethnic Chinese and two per cent aboriginal. Any Taiwan citizen can run for Parliament regardless of birthplace, an election official said.
Whiz-kid writes iPhone application
While most children his age sketch on paper with crayons, nine-year-old Lim Ding Wen from Singapore has a very different canvas - his iPhone.
Lim, who is in fourth grade, writes applications for Apple's popular iPhone. His latest, a painting program called Doodle Kids, has been downloaded over 4,000 times from Apple's iTunes store in two weeks, the New Paper reported yesterday.
The program lets iPhone users draw with their fingers by touching the iPhone's touchscreen and then clear the screen by shaking the phone.
"I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw," Lim said. His sisters are aged three and five.
Lim, who is fluent in six programming languages, started using the computer at the age of two. He has since completed about 20 programming projects.