2 Arrested for Alleged Fraud over Luxury Watch Sharing Service

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police on Friday arrested two individuals in a high-profile fraud case involving a luxury watch sharing service. The two are Takazumi Fukuhara, 44, who headed the Osaka-based company providing the service, and Taishi Nakayama, 44, a former employee of the now-defunct company. Fukuhara was arrested upon his arrival from the United Arab Emirates, where he had fled. Fukuhara and Nakayama are suspected of defrauding a Tokyo man in his 30s out of 15 watches, worth a total of 18 million yen at market value, around August 2023 by suggesting that he could receive a stable income by depositing the watches. According to police sources, they are believed to have begun the service in January 2021 and cheated about 650 people in their 20s to 80s out of a total of 1,700 watches worth at least 2.8 billion yen between around March 2021 and December 2023. They allegedly sold about 1,300 of the watches at some 110 shops, including those in Tokyo and Osaka, and used the proceeds to acquire crypto assets and fund online casino accounts, the sources said. In late January 2024, Fukuhara left for Dubai after announcing the end of the watch sharing service and the liquidation of the company. He was added to the international wanted list in March that year. His passport expired the following month, and he was later detained there. Another suspect, Daisuke Nagata, 40, who left Japan with Fukuhara and was also added to the international wanted list, is still at large. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]