Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Fukuoka Court Sentences Ex-Assistant Teacher to 3 Years, 6 Months for Forged Licenses

The case exposed weak hiring checks that let copies stand in for originals.

Overview

  • Kondo Masahito, 66, was sentenced Monday to three years and six months in prison for using fake teacher-license copies to secure school posts in Fukuoka Prefecture.
  • He submitted forged documents in March 2021 to a staffing firm for Sasaguri and in January 2025 to Sue Town, with the copies bearing a Gifu Prefectural Board of Education name stamp.
  • Presiding Judge Imaizumi Yuto said his repeat offending showed marked habituality and that the conduct badly damaged trust in public records.
  • Court and prosecution records show he lost his license after a 2005 conviction, lost it again in 2012, worked without a license in Saitama and Gunma, and served prison terms in 2014 and 2017 for similar acts.
  • Sue Town’s education board said it has tightened checks after the verdict by requiring original teacher licenses at hiring, a move that could spur wider verification changes in local schools.