SCMP | Douglas Parkes
Though she died relatively unannounced in 2014, Nui Onoue was once a figure of fame, and later infamy. Ostensibly a humble restaurant owner in Osaka, Onoue had forged certificates of deposits and convinced the Industrial Bank of Japan and its affiliates to lend her up to ¥240 billion (US$2.2 billion). The result was Onoue became the largest player in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the largest in the world at the time. Reportedly, she bought as much as ¥120 billion (US$1.1 billion) of stock in one day, owning millions of shares in prestigious companies such as Fuji Heavy Industries and Toshiba and became the largest shareholder in the Industrial Bank of Japan itself.
Known as the “Dark Lady of Osaka”, Onoue was supposedly highly accurate in her stock market predictions and held occult midnight ceremonies in her restaurant, beneath the watchful glare of a ceramic toad (a symbol meant to attract wealth), that would be attended by high-powered bankers seeking to divine where they should invest next.
When the bubble economy burst, Onoue’s fortunes went with it. As the market plunged, Onoue was forced to borrow more to cover her existing losses. After collecting more fake deposit certificates, her fraud was uncovered.
In the five years before 1991, Onoue borrowed ¥2.8 trillion (US$26 billion), which attracted interest payments of about ¥130 billion (US$1.2 billion). With notable understatement, the Japanese court trying her declared that these amounts were “extremely unusual” for an individual. It was the largest investment fraud case in Japanese history.
Japan | The Bubble Economy years
Japan | The Bubble Economy years
May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.