The studio Ufotable anime franchises such as Fate and Kimetsu no Yaiba, has been accused of tax evasion. According to reports, the formal notification was issued by the special investigation department of the Tokyo Prosecutor's Office directly to President Hikaru Kondo .
According to reports, Ufotable failed to pay 137 million yen (approximately US$1.24 million) in taxes. 😱
The company acknowledged the complaint and confirmed that it had filed a corrected income tax return and paid the corresponding amount. The Japanese news portal Kyodo News reported that the written accusation specified that Ufotable allegedly owes 109 million yen (approximately US$990,000) in corporate taxes from 2015 to 2018 and 28 million yen (approximately US$254,000) in excise taxes from September 2014 to August 2018.
The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper alleged that Kondo supposedly hid about 30% of the profits from some anime-themed restaurants owned by the ufotable studio in Tokyo, storing it in a private safe at his home. These reports stated that ufotable allegedly owed 139 million yen (about US$1.28 million) in taxes at the time, while the investigation was underway.
Furthermore, Bungeishunju's Weekly Bunshun Digital magazine reported in April 2019 that the studio allegedly owes 400 million yen (approximately US$3.57 million) in taxes, citing a source from the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau. The report noted that ufotable is suspected of allegedly diverting funds raised from a charity auction for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, a violation of the Penal Code that carries a potential prison sentence of no more than 10 years. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau conducted a search of ufotable's offices in early March of that year as part of an investigation, but ultimately did not file charges.
Kondo ended up resigning from his position as president of the executive committee of Machi Asobi, an event in Tokushima that ufotable was once the main organizer of, in May 2019.
Finally, the studio was founded in the 2000s.
Via: ANN