The Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested a man Tuesday for allegedly selling mopeds by falsely labeling them as battery-assisted bicycles, which do not require license plates, investigative sources said.
The prefectural police department arrested Masaki Natori, 45, president of an auto accessory sales company in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward, on suspicion of violating the unfair competition prevention law.
The company imported at least three types of mopeds with pedals. Since around 2021, it has sold them online for prices ranging from some ¥300,000 to over ¥800,000.
According to the sources, Natori is suspected of selling a total of some 1,000 mopeds between March 2022 and May this year by falsely labeling them as battery-assisted bicycles.
In June last year, a man riding a moped sold by the company caused an accident in the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa, leaving an elderly woman seriously injured. The mislabeling came to light since the driver was unaware that the product was a moped.
In February this year, the police raided the company's head office and its 11 branches in nine prefectures.
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