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Ufotable, Founder Hikaru Kondo Formally Accused With 137 Million Yen Tax Evasion Charges

Kondo purportedly hid about 30% of the proceeds from some of ufotable's anime-themed restaurants in Tokyo and stored them in a private safe at home last year.

After the charges from last year, the special investigation department of the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a formal indictment again today, to anime studio Ufotable and it’s founder, representative director, and president Hikaru Kondo for violating national tax laws, reported Mainichi.

The Prosecutor’s Office said that it was exempt from corporate tax and consumption tax totaling about 137 million yen(about US$1.24 million).

In a statement on the ufotable website, the studio reiterated that an amended tax return has already been completed and the tax owed has already been paid back.

According to Kyodo News, in the indictment, Kondo evaded a total of around 109 million yen(about US$990,000) in corporate taxes by understating the company’s income for the fiscal years ending in August 2015, 2017, and 2018.

He also allegedly evaded around 28 million yen(about US$254,400) in consumption taxes between September 2014 and August 2018 by not reporting a portion of taxable sales.

Previous reports by The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper last February claimed that Kondo allegedly hid about 30% of the proceeds from some of ufotable’s anime-themed restaurants in Tokyo and stored them in a private safe at home. Those reports said that ufotable allegedly owed 139 million yen (about US$1.28 million) in taxes at the time while the investigation was developing.

The amounts listed in the formal indictment are lower than the charges that were laid against ufotable and Kondo last year by around 1 million yen for each charge.

Ufotable apologized to fans and other concerned parties and stated that they “will continue to comply with laws and regulations and strive for proper management in order to improve the production environment for sustainable and better quality productions.”

Source: Mainichi, Kyodo via ANN