Politician Apologizes For Auctioning Off Masks
A local politician in Japan has apologized for selling thousands of face masks via online auctions at a time when they are in short supply due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Hiroyuki Morota, a member of the Shizuoka prefectural assembly, offered the apology at a news conference on Monday.
Morota said he put boxes of 2,000 masks up for auction some 89 times from February 4 to March 6, and made a total of 8.9 million yen, or about 87,000 dollars.
He said the masks came from the inventory of a trading firm he runs. He also said he did not make an improper profit from the sale of masks, which he imported from China several years ago.
But he said he lacked consideration as a politician to put them up for auction during the coronavirus outbreak.
He said he intends to continue his career as an assembly member.
Morota told reporters that his wife will take over for him as the head of the trading firm. He said he will donate the money earned from the auction.
Morota used the Yahoo! JAPAN auction site. The firm says it will ban mask auctions starting on Saturday.
