Overview
- Osaka Prefectural Police on Dec. 1 referred the Higashi-Osaka operators of Fletch to prosecutors on suspicion of fraud, adding alleged violations of rice traceability rules.
- The pair had already been arrested and indicted over an attempt to bring in about 45 tons by declaring the cargo as mung beans, which customs flagged with container X-ray imaging at Yumeshima.
- A specialist laboratory concluded the rice sold was highly likely not domestic, supporting allegations that origin information was falsified.
- Investigators estimate roughly 294–300 tons were sold to about 300 businesses across around 30 prefectures, generating about ¥130 million in receipts.
- Case filings detail about 8 tons sold to four stores in Aichi, Hyogo and Yamanashi for roughly ¥4.98 million, and the defendants admitted seeking profit from Japan’s rice price surge.