A Japanese businessman, who is accused of selling about 200-million-baht worth of substandard medical gloves and equipment to customers in Switzerland and the United States, has been arrested by officers from the Consumers Protection Division at a hotel in Bangkok’s Ploenchit commercial district.
Commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Pol Lt-Gen Chiraphop Phuridet said today (Monday) that police also seized more than 10 million rubber medical gloves from a warehouse in the Sri Racha district of the eastern province of Chon Buri, adding that several luxurious cars were also found at his residence.
The confiscated assets are worth about 286 million baht.
He said that the Japanese man, identified only as “Ozawa”, established a company to produce substandard rubber medical gloves and other medical devices illegally, for sale in the domestic market and abroad.
The CIB’s Consumer Protection Division launched an investigation after they received complaints from customers in the US and Switzerland, claiming that they were cheated by Ozawa’s company. After thorough investigation, police managed to track Ozawa down and made the arrest.
The suspect denied the charges, claiming that he was cheated, said the CIB commissioner, adding that the suspect also claimed he was a former Yakuza member in Japan, but travelled to Thailand and settled in Thailand’s Northeast and to teach English and Japanese.
The school where he taught was, however, closed down during COVID-19 pandemic and he then invested in setting up an illegal company to produce and sell substandard medical rubber gloves and medical instrument.
