Japan politician apologises for auctioning face masks

AFP
A Japanese politician yesterday apologised after he made $86,000 auctioning face masks online as the country deals with a shortage during the new coronavirus outbreak. Hiroyuki Morota, a member of the Shizuoka prefecture assembly and owner of an import firm, defended his decision in a televised press conference but conceded that the move was ill-timed. Morota said he auctioned packages of masks, some containing 2,000 pieces, via the internet dozens of times over a one-month period, netting 8.88 million yen ($86,000). Each package sold for between 34,000 to 170,000 yen, he told local media.