The city of Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, announced Tuesday that it had auctioned off the desk and chair of its scandal-embroiled former mayor, who was criticized for lavishly spending taxpayer money.
The furniture was sold in an online auction for ¥3 million ($22,112) — about 1.5 times what former Mayor Hirotami Murakoshi paid for it using municipal government funds.
Mayor Ko Tanaka, 65, who took office after being elected on March 27, said he is grateful to the generous bidder.
“We will bring the money back into the city coffers as we promised and use it for the benefit of residents,” Tanaka said in a statement. “In the future, the city will not use taxpayer money in a wrong way.”
According to the city, the wooden desk and chair were made in Japan and purchased by the municipal government in August 2020 for around ¥1.98 million. A business owner in Ichikawa won the auction, which had started at ¥1.48 million.
Tanaka replaced Murakoshi, 48, whose tenure was plagued with scandals. He faced harsh criticism after expensive equipment was installed in the mayor’s room in the municipal government building, which also included a shower room costing around ¥3.6 million.
Murakoshi also faced backlash from the public and media over a plan to lease two Tesla electric vehicles for a monthly fee of around ¥140,000 each, reportedly more than twice as high as the fee for other types of cars. The plan was scrapped following a resolution submitted by the city assembly.