The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Metropolitan Police Department are investigating a wholesaler of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, who after taking delivery of 177 wheelchairs and 4,200 bottles of wine disappeared without trace owing millions of yen, sources said Saturday.
In December, Techno Mice, a medical appliance maker based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, received a call from a food and sundry goods wholesaler called Maruefu. The caller placed an order for several wheelchairs, saying he had seen Techno Mice's Web site and wanted to sell them to nursing homes.
Techno Mice received two more orders from Maruefu by mid-January, and shipped a total of 177 wheelchairs, worth about 6.6 million yen to the firm.
When payment was not made, Techno Mice sent an employee to the Maruefu office who discovered the place was empty and there was no forwarding address, the company said....
Happy Park, a municipal organization promoting local farm produce from Minami-Arupusu, Yamanashi Prefecture, received orders for wine from Maruefu on four occasions in December.
The caller said he wanted to purchase wine for Christmas parties organized by large corporations and ordered about 4,200 bottles, worth about 3.8 million yen.
I guess the wheelchairs will be useful after getting completely 'legless' on the wine. :P
