Hi, this is my first ever post on Reddit, but the situation made me consider asking the internet for advice for the first time in my life, so I am not sure if I am posting in the correct sub 😬. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. at a university in Japan. One of my labmates and I have bonded (as in become friendly enough to go on trips and eat at restaurants with some of our other labmates) over the last year as both of us are foreigners and pursuing Ph.D.s. He's always talked about moving away from his country by opening a company over here and establishing roots through that. I've always supported him and all, even joking about joining the company if I don't eventually find a job.
Today, he messaged me saying that his parents have decided to go ahead with opening (what I believe, from our earlier conversations) a branch of their company in Japan. Now they need to show some employees to the immigration, for which he's asking me if I could essentially lend him my name as a part-time employee. He says I won't have to work or do anything, other than just my name being part of the company… He was super low on the details. He's out on a trip right now, so I've delayed my decision by telling him that I'll think about it and discuss more details when he's back.
Obviously, I am really worried that he might be getting me into something sketchy. He never seemed like a sketchy guy, as he's very law-abiding, as far as I know, although I've only known him for the last three years and like I said, we've only gotten close enough to share details about our lives in the past year, or practically the last 6 months. Is there anyone who can advise me about how legal this sort of thing is? I definitely don't want to jeopardize my final year of Ph.D. (actually, my final year ends in September I need to apply for an extension of 6 months for thesis writing through my university in October), over trying to maintain a short relationship, no matter how helpful he's been.
TLDR: Friend I've known for 3 years, and bonded with over the last year, asked me to pose as a part-timer for a company his parents plan to open here in Japan. What are the legal ramifications?
by SpicyAirDuster