For the first time, a person was arrested on suspicion of reselling a large amount of masks at higher prices.
Okayama prefectural police on Monday arrested Junki Fujii, 34, for allegedly buying in April 70,000 masks for 44 yen each from an importer in Okayama Prefecture, then selling 14,000 of them for about 690,000 yen (about 50 yen each) to a man in Sakaide, Kagawa Prefecture.
In March, a central government ordinance prohibiting high-priced resales of masks went into effect as part of a revision to the Law on Emergency Measures for Stabilizing Living Conditions of the Public. Violators face up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 1 million yen.
Fujii, the president of a house cleaning company in Takamatsu, was quoted as saying, "Almost all of the about 160,000 masks I purchased have been sold" after soliciting buyers via social media.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
