Police make first arrest over mask resale ban

NHK -- Jun 03

Police in Japan say they've made the first arrest for the violation of a ban on reselling masks, which was introduced to stop them from being resold at inflated prices amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Fujii Junki was arrested on suspicion of reselling 16,000 masks he had bought from an importer in April. Fujii runs a cleaning company in the western city of Takamatsu.

He allegedly sold them to two self-employed men at a premium of about 5 cents per mask.

Police say the masks were a portion of 70,000 masks he had purchased for about 3 million yen, or 28,000 dollars.

Investigators say Fujii sold the remaining masks by soliciting buyers on social media.

The ban was introduced in March after severe supply shortages prompted some people to resell masks at marked-up prices for financial gain.

Police say Fujii is also believed to have bought another 90,000 masks and resold them to earn thousands of dollars.

Jun 03 (ANNnewsCH) - マスクの転売で全国初の逮捕者だということです。  高松市の会社役員・藤井淳希容疑者(34)は4月、輸入業者からマスク7万枚を1枚44円で仕入れ、岡山市内などで知人2人に1枚約50円で合わせて1万6000枚を転売した疑いが持たれています。警察の取り調べに対して「約16万枚を転売して数十万円の利益が出た」と話しているということです。警察は藤井容疑者の余罪を調べるとともに、知人2人も転売目的で藤井容疑者からマスクを購入したとみて調べています。