The Japanese website Toke Match was supposed to allow owners of luxury watches to earn monthly commissions by lending their goods. But after its closure at the end of January, 900 watches worth nearly 12 million euros disappeared.
Based in Osaka, Japan, the site Toke Match offered owners of luxury watches the opportunity to receive monthly commissions by lending their goods, which were then rented out to individuals.
However, on January 31st, the company Neo Reverse, the operator of this service, announced the closure of the site. While the company claimed that owners of Rolex and other prestigious watches would have their loans returned, the Japanese newspaper Asahi and other local media outlets report that 190 people have still not recovered their belongings. In total, 900 luxury watches estimated to be worth nearly 12 million euros have disappeared from circulation, while the website owner is reportedly on the run in Dubai.
Traces on auction sites and in second-hand stores
The Japanese police have received dozens of complaints from victims. Indeed, the missing watches were spotted by their owners on an online auction site. The operator of this site admitted to having seen at least 20 watches with serial numbers matching those loaned to Toke Match. “We immediately halted the circulation of these watches,” assured a spokesperson last week.
The Japanese Sharing Economy Association stated in a press release that it had received information that some of the watches were also circulating in second-hand stores. It also notes that the size of the Japanese collaborative economy market reached 16 billion euros in the last fiscal year and continues to grow. Neo Reverse was one of around 400 members of the association but was excluded on February 1st following complaints from owners of missing watches.
Arrest warrant issued against website owner
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