King Con

Last September, a few days after buying a bank in the Philippines, Japanese businessman Genta Ogami arrived at its Manila headquarters and summoned his top executives. Clad as usual in head-to-toe Versace, Ogami informed his newly appointed Japanese officers how the local staff should be introduced to their new boss. "I want you to tell them there is but one messiah, and he is Genta Ogami," he declared, his surgically enhanced face conveying dead seriousness. He turned to Kensuke Inoue, a trusted associate whom he had installed as bank president, saying, "At this point, I want the speech to hit an...