Tokyo’s Kamata Police Station announced that it had arrested a driver charged for embezzling Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 consoles. The 50 years-old suspect, Fuyuki Minemura, has no permanent address nor occupation recorded. [Thanks, IGN Japan!]
An unnamed acquaintance working in a freight company entrusted Minemura to deliver around 200 items. The cargo included Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and physical game copies. The items’ actual selling price would total about 5.8 million yen (~$50,865). However, Minemura instead went to resell the items at second-hand shops in Tokyo and gained 3 million yen (~$26,290) for himself.
After getting arrested, Fuyuki Minemura acknowledged the charges made against him. He claimed he had a financial problem as he used most of his money to bet on horse races.
This case of embezzling Switch and PS5 consoles added more problems to the ongoing supply issues for all game consoles due to chip shortages. In early November 2021, Nintendo revealed that it will produce about 20% fewer Switch units than the original plans for the March 2022 fiscal year, from 30 million to 24 million units. Similarly, Sony also reduced its PS5 production forecast from 16 million to 15 million units. Both companies expect the widespread shortage to continue well into 2022.
As of September 2021, Nintendo has sold 92.87 million Switch and Switch Lite units worldwide. Meanwhile, Sony sold 10.1 million PlayStation 5 units by August 2021.
