PR firm head arrested in Japan over Pokémon trading card theft

Tokyo police have arrested the president of a web-based PR company on allegations that he stole high-value Pokémon trading cards from a store he had visited for business, NHK World reported.

Investigators say Tatsuki Haneda made off with nine cards worth roughly $52,000 from a trading card shop in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward in August. He had gone to the store to photograph its products and was given a key card to access a storage room containing the cards. After completing his work, he reportedly told staff he had forgotten something and used the key again to reenter the room, where he stole the cards.

According to police, the most expensive card taken was valued at about $16,300, and Haneda sold several of the cards for nearly $29,000 the following day.

Haneda admitted to the allegations, saying he was struggling financially and had learned from store employees that trading cards could fetch high prices.

In a separate case, police in Japan arrested a man for possessing toy guns that were capable of firing live ammunition.