NAGOYA –
A 63-year-old man from Shizuoka Prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of promoting 10 stolen steel plaques, together with nameplates bearing the names of bridges, to a scrap steel supplier in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture.
Police arrested unemployed Eiji Maiguma, 63, on suspicion of facilitating the disposal of stolen property.
Investigators allege that Maiguma bought the ten objects to the steel buying enterprise in May 2026 regardless of realizing that they had been stolen.
Police imagine an unidentified individual requested Maiguma to promote the plaques. He has denied the allegation, telling investigators, “There is no doubt that I sold the nameplates and other items, but I did not know they had been stolen.”
Authorities haven’t decided the place the bridge nameplates had been stolen. The complete worth of the stolen objects is estimated at greater than 380,000 yen.
Police are investigating how Maiguma obtained the plaques and the circumstances surrounding their sale.
Source: Nagoya TV News