250 cars and the CEO disappeared? Harmful Trouble Occurring at Used Car Sales Company “Kernel

The car was taken away somewhere.

In late March, I signed a contract and paid 440,000 yen for the car. I was told that it would take up to two months to deliver the car, but suddenly, after the Golden Week holidays, I could not contact the person in charge. When I went to the store in mid-May, there was no one there and an apology on the entrance door of the store suggested that it was closed. ……

Many of the vehicles for sale were still in the store’s parking lot, including the car I bought. I had received a business card when I bought the car, so I contacted the president directly to press for delivery of the car, but he said, ‘We can’t deliver the car. The price will be refunded’ to a point. After that, the car was taken away and I lost touch with the president.

Mr. A, a man in his 30s, purchased a Honda Freed at the used car dealership “Kernel” Higashi-Hiroshima. The Freed was never delivered to him.

There have been a number of problems with used cars purchased at Kernel that were never delivered to the customer. The number of such cases is as many as 250.

Kernel is a used car sales chain with 14 stores nationwide, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Since its establishment in 2006, the company has expanded its business by selling cars “as-is” at a discount because they are not serviced or washed prior to delivery. However, in May of this year, all of the stores suddenly closed, and tragedies like Mr. A’s, in which used cars that he had supposedly bought disappeared, are occurring all over Japan. Automotive journalist Kumiko Kato, who has been covering the issue, is outraged.

The company that operates Kernel is called WOOROM. The cause of this unpaid car trouble is WOOROM’s deteriorating cash flow. The company began to fail to pay repair and warranty companies around October ’24, and around March of this year, unpaid vehicle payments to buyers began to stand out.

Oolong was funded under a special contract whereby the company received financing by pledging inventory vehicles as collateral. When repayments fell behind, the financing company would auction off the cars purchased by customers for cash. So Kernel was no longer able to deliver the vehicles. When selling a vehicle that has been pledged as collateral, you are obligated to notify the buyer, but it appears that Kurnell did not do that either.

The government is also taking the matter of Kurnell’s unpaid car purchases very seriously, and at a post-cabinet press conference on June 13, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Yohji Muto said, “We will also consider effective measures to prevent damage.

The damage is not limited to customers. Employees have also not been paid, with the majority of manager-level employees not receiving their salaries since January of this year and the majority of general employees not receiving their salaries since February.

A Kernel employee confides, “Each employee receives between 1.2 and 2 million yen.

One employee at Kurnell confided, “Each employee has accrued between 1.2 and 2 million yen in unpaid wages. We are all at a loss because even if we quit, we cannot receive unemployment insurance because the company is dysfunctional and we have not been sent a rishokuhyo (release form). ……

The president is very interested in oncology.

It is Mr. N, who serves as the president of Oolong, that Mr. A and the employees direct their anger at. He went into hiding at the same time as the closing of the Kernel. His only means of communication was a short message on his cell phone. In late June, he explained that he would be able to pay all customers in full by July 20, but in fact, only a small refund was given to some customers in early July. In fact, however, only a few customers received refunds in early July. In fact, according to one employee, “We have newly uncovered a total of 300 million yen in unpaid amounts to suppliers, including advertising fees, payments to land transportation companies, and payments to administrative scriveners,” which is simply appalling. Another employee confided with a sigh, “This was in September of last year.

It was in September of last year. Suddenly, President N asked me to do some research. He wanted me to make a list of overseas online casinos and rate them. On another day, while staring at his smartphone over drinks, he blurted out, ‘How many tens of millions of dollars do you think I’ve spent so far? I thought he was joking and laughed it off, but I wondered if he was trying to earn operating capital by gambling. ……

The company received a demand letter dated June 13 from American Express for about 300 million yen. Since Oolong was also involved in the Rolex sales business under President N’s heirship, we assume that this is the demand. However, the watches have ″disappeared″ along with Mr. N.”

FRIDAY sent a message to Mr. N’s cell phone to ask for an explanation of his response to a series of unpaid car troubles and unpaid salaries, as well as the specific reasons for his business deterioration. At first, Mr. N replied that he would explain over the phone, but when we rang his cell phone on the designated date and time, Mr. N did not pick up.

Does Mr. N think he can get away with this after causing so many victims?