TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a 28-year-old man who allegedly stole liquor from a host club in Tokyo to sell via the marketplace app Mercari earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 14).
On April 12, Kenta Ishizaki, an employee in the construction industry living in Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, allegedly trespassed into the club, located in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward, and stole one bottle of brandy (valued at 340,000 yen) and 13 bottles of high-end sake (1.44 million yen).
Ishizaki, who has been accused of theft, admits to the allegations, according to the Shinjuku Police Station.
After the theft, Ishizaki sold the liquor via Mercari. The bottles were shipped to customers from convenience stores and other locations, police said.
Ishizaki became a person of interest after the examination of security camera footage.
Within the jurisdiction of the Shinjuku Police Station, there have been about a dozen similar thefts. Ishizaki is under investigation in those cases, police said.
Going public
Also on Monday, a regulatory filing with the Ministry of Finance showed that the operator of Mercari has been given approval for an initial public offering that will raise up to 117.6 billion yen, based on an indicative price range between 2,200 and 2,700 yen per share. On June 19, the company will list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers market.
