Tokyo man arrested for stealing smartphone, turning it in to police to claim reward money.

In October, a man walked into a police box in Tokyo and told the officer on duty that he’d found someone’s smartphone and was turning it in as lost property. He also stated, explicitly, “I want the reward money.”

To clarify, the owner of the phone hadn’t posted any public reward notice for it. Under Japan’s Lost Property Act, however, people who turn in lost property after finding it are allowed to claim a reward of between five and 20 percent of its value, to be paid by the owner. That said, not everyone asks for the reward, and there’s not at all a general attitude in Japanese society of “Hey, look, someone lost their phone/wallet/watch/etc. We should turn it in so that we can get some cash!” Most people turn in lost items simply because it’s the right thing to do, with the potential monetary gain an afterthought, if they think of it at all.

This man, though, 57-year-old Mitsuyoshi Nakai, was thinking about the reward money. So after the phone’s owner was tracked down and came to the police box to pick it up a week later, they told him that Nakai had not only said that he wanted the reward, but that he wanted it quickly. The owner, also a man in his 50s, then went to see Nakai and gave him 5,000 yen (US$32). In return, Nakai gave the owner a piece of advice, telling him “You should keep your phone in your bag so that you don’t drop it.”

However, after paying him the reward money, the phone’s owner couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen Nakai somewhere before. While searching his memory, he likely thought back to the last time he remembered seeing his phone before he’d lost it: while eating at a restaurant in Tokyo’s Koto Ward, where he’d set his phone down on his table before getting up to get a cup of water from the self-service station. After contacting the restaurant about the situation, the management reviewed their security footage, and sure enough, it showed that Nakai had been there at the same time as the phone’s owner, and had nabbed it and left the restaurant while the owner had been getting water.

Nakai has now been arrested, though he maintains that he did nothing wrong, saying “All I did was turn in lost property at the police box, so obviously I have a right to receive the reward money.” That summary, though, conveniently ignores the video evidence showing that the property wasn’t “lost” until he himself stole it, and he now faces charges of both theft and fraud, and possibly dozens of cases of each. During the investigation, the police noticed that there are more than 60 records of Nakai turning in lost property, and that he received reward money 14 times, so either the guy has uncanny luck in just happening to find lost stuff, or a whole lot of people have had the bad luck of crossing paths with a serial thief.

Online reactions have included:

“Didn’t he feel embarrassed acting so pushy about it?”
“What a lame-o.”
“You gotta be pretty dumb to hatch such a crazy plan.”
“60 times? Yeah dude, you’re gonna get caught.”
“This is the best comedy.”
“That’s a lot of work he put in for such a small return.”
“Such a ditz. It’d take less time to earn that much money doing a part-time job.”
“So are the 14 people who paid him a reward going to get their money back?”
“They really ought to change that law.”

▼ Video of Nakai being taken into custody

It’s worth pointing out that while the Lost Property Act allows finders to claim a reward, things get a little murkier on whether or not the owner is required to pay it. As shown by the case for which Nakai was arrested, even if the finder wants to claim the reward the police don’t necessarily confiscate the property until the owner agrees to pay it. If the owner either fails to reach out to the finder or otherwise refuses to pay, it would then be up to the finder to file a lawsuit, something that might not be worth the time and hassle, especially if it’s going to open up the details of how the property was found to greater scrutiny and uncover criminal intent.

Source: FNN Prime Online via Hachima Kiko, Sankei Shimbun, YouTube/FNNプライムオンライン
Top image: Pakutaso
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