President of Electronics Company Arrested in Apple MacBook Fraud Case

A President's Arrest

The president of Teishin Co., an electronics import and export company, was arrested on suspicion of fraud related to the illegal purchase and resale of Apple MacBooks. The investigation centers around the quasi-gang group known as the Chinese Dragon, suspected of orchestrating a scheme to fraudulently acquire MacBooks at student discount prices and then resell them at inflated prices overseas.

The president, identified as Zhao, allegedly conspired with others to illegally purchase MacBooks worth 5,744,400 yen using student discounts. These purchases violated Apple's terms of sale, which restrict the number of purchases allowed per year and prohibit reselling items for profit within one year.

The investigation suggests that the MacBooks were then resold in China and other foreign countries through Teishin. Zhao has denied any involvement.

Further investigation revealed that Zhao and others are suspected of purchasing approximately 700 Apple products worth approximately 130 million yen using the same method of exploiting student discounts.

The MPD raided Teishin's office and arrested several individuals, including a woman believed to have directed the purchases. The woman allegedly recruited Chinese university students to make the purchases using their student ID cards and then collected the products before reselling them to a used goods buyer.

Zhao is suspected of instructing the woman on which and how many products to buy and of reselling them to the used goods buyer for a few thousand yen markup per unit.

The MPD believes that established routes exist for purchasing Apple products in Japan and reselling them overseas, and that quasi-gang groups like the Chinese Dragon are actively involved in these schemes.

Teishin, founded by Zhao in 2018, initially sold clothing and cosmetics. However, around 2021, it began handling Apple products, resulting in a significant increase in sales.