The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced the former president of a now-defunct "jusen" housing loan lender to three years and two months in prison for aggravated breach of trust.

According to the court, Noboru Kawahara, the 77-year-old former president of Nippon Housing Loan Co., and two others -- Ryoji Asai, 66, a former managing director at Nippon Housing Loan, and Nobuhide Hayashi, 59, a former section chief -- were involved in extending 1.595 billion yen in loans to a golf course developer and 1.87 billion yen to a real estate company in 1991, despite knowing the two firms did not have the financial strength to repay the money.

Asai received a 30-month prison term and Hayashi a 28-month term, suspended for three years. The two acted as guarantors for 300 million yen in loans to the golf course developer and consequently inflicted financial damage to Nippon Housing Loan, the court ruled.