Police arrested four people, including a 24-year-old professional magician, for allegedly making holes in coins for use in magic tricks. Defacing coins is illegal.
The four include magician Takeshi Moriguchi and Katsuyoshi Shono, a 58-year-old Osaka man who sells magic tricks over the Internet. Moriguchi's customers included well-known magicians, police said Wednesday.
According to police, the four made holes in 40 10 yen coins and 40 100 yen coins in May and June.
People found guilty of damaging Japanese coins can be imprisoned for up to a year or fined up to 200,000 yen.
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