Japanese police investigating the disappearance of nearly $500m of bitcoins are poised to rearrest the French founder of the Mt Gox virtual currency exchange amid questions about the purchase of a $48,000 four-poster bed.

正在调查总价值近5亿美元的比特币失踪案的日本警方，准备重新逮捕比特币交易所Mt Gox的法籍创始人，他将面对的问题包括用4.8万美元购买一张四柱床。

Before the exchange collapsed last year, sending shockwaves through the bitcoin community, Mt Gox was the largest such trading platform in the world.

去年该交易所的倒闭对整个比特币世界造成巨大冲击，此前Mt Gox是世界上最大的比特币交易平台。

Mark Karpelès, initially accused of manipulating the Mt Gox computer system and inflating the size of his own company account, has been in detention in Tokyo without formal charges since the start of August. People close to the matter said police would today issue a fresh warrant for Mr Karpelès’s arrest on the charge of embezzlement — a change that grants investigators a further three weeks to interrogate him.

最初，马克愠楓莱斯(Mark Karpelès)被指操纵Mt Gox电脑系统以及抬高其公司的账户余额。自8月初以来他一直被羁押在东京，尚未面临任何正式指控。知情人士称，警方将在今天发出新的逮捕令，以侵吞公款罪名逮捕卡佩莱斯——这将使调查人员再获得3周时间对其进行审问。

The rearrest will extend a process known informally to police and prosecutors as shomusen — the “war of attrition” waged by investigators seeking a confession. A lawyer for Mr Karpelès said that his client denied the original charges and had made no confession under questioning. But after three weeks of interrogation, those close to the matter said police believe they have enough evidence to accuse Mr Karpelès of embezzlement, alleging he misappropriated $2.6m of deposits from the trading accounts of Mt Gox customers. A substantial portion of that money is thought to have been used to buy software rights on behalf of the company. However, according to police allegations, Y6m ($48,000) was diverted to buy a bed. Police suspect it was intended for the personal use of Mr Karpelès.

重新逮捕将延长被警方和检察官私下称为shomusen的阶段——即调查人员为获得招供而发起“消耗战”。卡佩莱斯的一名律师称，其客户否认了最初的指控，在审问过程中没有招供。但是在审问进行3周后，知情人士称，警方相信已掌握足够证据指控卡佩莱斯犯有侵吞公款罪，声称他从Mt Gox客户的账户中挪用了260万美元。这笔钱中有很大一部分据信被用于以公司的名义购买软件使用权。然而，据警方表示，其中600万日元（合4.8万美元）被用于购买了一张床。警方怀疑，这张床是供卡佩莱斯个人使用。

A lawyer for Mr Karpelès said the deposits were used for investments in new businesses while the bed was an interior decoration for his guesthouse, both of which were meant as marketing tools to promote the use of bitcoins.

卡佩莱斯的律师称，这些存款是用于向新业务投资，而这张床用于其招待所的内饰，两者都被当作营销工具，目的是促进比特币的使用。