A yakuza member has been arrested for allegedly selling a counterfeit Tiffany necklace online.
Police said Saturday that Yamaguchi-gumi member Kazuo Shimamura, 43, was arrested for selling an imitation Tiffany necklace in an online auction. Shimamura's item was revealed as a fake after a 38-year-old Tokyo woman bought the necklace in March of last year for 10,000 yen and discovered that it was not genuine, Fuji TV reported.
Shimamura was quoted by police as saying, "I received it from a friend and then sold it online. I thought it was the real thing."
Police are currently investigating the possibility that Shimamura has sold other counterfeit goods.
© Japan Today
19 Comments
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kimuzukashiiiii
Not a nice thing to do, but an 1man fake necklace? Is that the worst the Yaks are going these days?!
nath
I feel so sad for the poor Yakuza these daze!
globalwatcher
If the fraud is involving US customers/dealers, Japanese can still file complaints against them to FBI and Federal Trade Commission for possibly criminal charges. FYI
Hide Suzuki
I hope this is an indication that yakuzas are struggling due to the new law they established last year.
gaijinfo
I heard that Tiffany's is also suing COSTCO for selling engagement rings labeled as "Tiffany Rings" when they ain't. Can Tiffany's sue the yaks?
kimuzukashiiiii
Hide Suzuki - they are absolutely NOT struggling. Most of their money comes from very high level business exploitation.
Thats why I find this story a bit weird - its ridiculous to go after the very low level Chinpira guys for a 10000¥ necklace, when their bosses are raking in hundreds and thousands of man daily. The police are celebrating because he is Yakuza, but yet the bigger and badder stuff goes on.
And the woman in the story has got to be a bit of an idiot too - anyone would be able to guess that a "Tiffany" necklace sold for ¥10,000 is not really a Tiffany necklace at all..
paulinusa
The yakuza are hopelessly years behind Chinese forgers. Really laughable.
Serrano
The woman bought the necklace from Shimamura almost a year ago. When was he arrested?
"I thought it was the real thing"
If that be the case, why did he sell it for a measly 10,000 yen? And did the woman who bought it really think it was genuine at that price?
Hide Suzuki
@kimuzukashiiiii
"they are absolutely NOT struggling.:
You know this because you are designated JapanToday Yakuza expert ? LOL or you know some actual yakuza members ? I know about Yakuza as much as anyone who only knows about them by reading newspapers and Wikipedia.
cwhite
A silver Tiffany necklace is around 10,000yen, so no point in selling it for more
Vernie Jefferies
Who is dumb enough to be buy jewelry from online auctions? You are asking to get ripped off.
incognito12
This could ruin the Yakuza's reputation...
Elbuda Mexicano
@Incognito, I am really worried about the Yakuza and their REPUTATION, hahaha!!
nath
Brilliant. 1 man is a good markup. you can but plenty fake Tiffany stuff in Vitnam and thailand for about 1,000 yen or so. even comes in box and bag. But after a couple of wearings the metals start to discolour.
Fadamor
I read that as well. The difference is that Costco had advertisments in-store claiming they were Tiffany's diamond rings and Costco had no agreement with Tiffany's to sell their goods. They may have actually BEEN Tiffany's rings - just bought through a middleman. I imagine that will come out in the trial (if Costco doesn't settle ahead of time).
JoeBigs
“I received it from a friend and then sold it online. I thought it was the real thing.”
Yeah and this friend was also a member of his gang. Please, charge this guy and take his Yakuza license away!
Dennis Bauer
@kimuzukashiiiii Or he was just a decoy?
OssanAmerica
No they weren't Tiffany's rings, http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/02/18/Costco-CEO-Tiffany-Suit-Email-021813.aspx
Agree with others that unless this leads to a case of Yaks selling counterfeits on a larger scale, it's too small to even be a news item.