In the first part of this report, we reported on how the original drawings of “Denei Shoujo,” a manga artist Masakazu Katsura, were stolen. Katsura subsequently received numerous tip-offs. Nao Sakai, an attorney at Sun Law Office, who is representing Katsura, stated, “We have examined the information carefully. We have learned that one of the contractors who attended the move may have been involved in the crime. In addition, the existence of an antique dealer who seems to be an accomplice who is in communication with this contractor also came to light. Furthermore, when we filed an information disclosure request with the website through the bar association, we found that one of the accounts that had been selling the stolen originals had been created by the antique dealer in question. Now that the “truth” is cracking, Katsura is preparing to go to the police again. “I believe that on the paperwork, the suspect will remain unidentified, but I plan to file criminal charges against him for theft and other crimes after gathering evidence related to the alleged vendor and antique dealer.
Dr. Katsura must pay the price.
What did they really do? When this magazine (Shukan Shincho) directly asked the antique dealer, he replied, “I signed a proper consignment contract and pulled it. I signed a proper consignment contract and was in charge of collecting unwanted items at the site of the move. However, I was not instructed by Mr. Katsura not to throw anything away. Afterwards, I divided the collected items into several parts and handed them over to recycling companies. I don’t know if any of them contained original artwork. After a while, I saw the originals listed on Yahoo! Auctions, and since I had some left over, I listed a few of them. I asked Sakai about the future of the case. He replied, “Even if the possibility of theft is admitted after the complaint is accepted, there will be hurdles ahead. If it is within two years from the time of the theft, the return can be claimed, but if the other party had purchased the original work on Yahoo! Of course, if the artwork is still in the possession of the offender, it is possible to claim its return without paying the price.