TOKYO (TR) — Police here have arrested a 32-year-old unemployed man accused of stealing premium champagne from a supermarket as part of a lucrative shoplifting and resale operation, reports TBS News (May 13).
Ryo Endo, a resident of Sagamihara City, is suspected of stealing 12 bottles of Moët & Chandon champagne valued at approximately 93,000 yen from a supermarket in Adachi Ward this past January.
According to police, Endo placed the bottles in a shopping cart and brazenly walked past the cash registers without paying. He then allegedly took the stolen goods directly to a nearby specialty liquor-buying shop to sell them for cash.
Upon his arrest, Endo denied the allegations, telling investigators, “To be honest, I don’t remember if I shoplifted at this store.”
Endo has already been arrested and indicted for a separate incident involving the theft of high-end whiskey at another supermarket in Adachi Ward.
Investigators suspect the man has been targeting luxury alcohol since around June of last year, estimating that he has illegally pocketed roughly 3 million yen through his serial shoplifting and resale scheme.
