The "Tokematch" incident has been reported overseas. The president of the company that runs it is wanted on suspicion of embezzlement.

The CEO and a former employee of the luxury watch sharing service "Tokematch" are said to have left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Dubai without returning watches worth a total of 19 billion yen to their owners, and are currently on the run while remaining in the country illegally. This unprecedented news has been widely reported overseas. This article introduces an article published by the French watch media, Montres De Luxe, on March 11, 2024.

The "Tokematch" incident in which watches worth a total of 19 billion yen disappeared

　Takaaki Fukuhara (42), the CEO of Neo Reverse, the company that operates the luxury watch sharing service Tokematch, fled to Dubai without returning the watches that had been entrusted to him by their owners.

　This is an unlikely event to occur in Japan, but this TV drama-like scenario has unfolded in the Land of the Rising Sun.

　According to various Japanese media reports, watches worth approximately 19 billion yen disappeared when Tokematch went bankrupt, and the president of the operating company fled to Dubai.

　Tokematch was a system in which owners borrowed Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and other watches, which they then rented out to customers, with the owners receiving a portion of the rental fee. However, with the closure of the service, nearly 900 watches disappeared. As of August 2023, Tokematch had posted 1500 watches for loan on its website.

　When Tokematch announced that it would be shutting down its service on January 31, 2024, it promised to return the luxury watches to their original owners. However, some of the watches (70 confirmed so far) were found for sale on online sales sites, and owners have filed police reports. It is currently believed that 190 people have been affected.

　Takamitsu Fukuhara, president of the Tokematch operating company, fled from Narita Airport to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a former employee on the same day the company's bankruptcy was announced. Just before leaving, he reportedly sold a Rolex that had been entrusted to him by a customer at a used watch store in Osaka for approximately 65 yen.

　According to Jiji Press, Japanese police have obtained arrest warrants for Fukuhara and others on suspicion of embezzlement and have issued an international wanted notice.

　The sharing business is also growing rapidly in Japan, with an organization that tracks the state of the market estimating that the market size last year was 2.6 trillion yen.

　According to the agency, Tokematch's name was removed from the list of the general incorporated association "Sharing Economy Association" after the owner filed a complaint.

　A number of companies have entered the luxury watch rental market in France over the past 20 years, but the concept has never taken off.