Ufotable a studio anime franchises such as Fate and Kimetsu no Yaiba, has been accused of tax evasion. According to reports, the Tokyo Prosecutor's Office's Special Investigation Department issued a formal notice directly to President Hikaru Kondo .
According to reports, Ufotable failed to pay 137 million yen (about $1.24 million) in taxes. 😱
The company acknowledged the complaint and assured that it had filed a corrected income tax return and paid the corresponding amount. Japanese news outlet Kyodo News reported that the written complaint specified that Ufotable allegedly owed 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.
Previous reports from The Mainichi Shimbun alleged that Kondo allegedly hid about 30% of the profits from some anime-themed restaurants owned by the ufotable studio in Tokyo, storing them in a private safe at his home. Those reports said that ufotable allegedly owed 139 million yen (about $1.28 million) in taxes at the time, while the investigation was ongoing.
Additionally, 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 embezzling 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 eventually resigned as chairman of the executive committee of Machi Asobi, the Tokushima event of which ufotable was once the main organizer, in May 2019.
Finally the studio was founded in the 2000s.
Via: ANN
