#Ufotable and Its Founder Hikaru Kondo Formally Indicted on Tax Evasion Charges, Forced to Pay Back 137 Million Yen

After being charged last year, anime studio ufotable, who is most well known for producing the Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train anime film, the highest-grossing anime film of all time worldwide, and its founder Hikaru Kondo were formally indicted today for violating the Corporation Tax Act and the Consumption Tax Act respectively.

Today, the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office formally indicted both the company and person, forcing them to jointly pay back 137 million yen (US$1.24 million) in back taxes. 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.

Hikaru Kondo stepped down from ufotable in May 2019. 

Kondo was found to have moved income from the Tokyo-based cafes run by ufotable to a safe in his home, with him falsely reported income statements in 2015, 2017, and 2018, concealing around 441 million yen (US$4 million) from The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau and claiming that the cafes were low-income endeavors. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau filed a complaint against Kondo and ufotable in April 2019. This let Kondo evade paying 109 million yen (US$990,413) in corporate tax, and 28 million yen (US$254,437) in consumption tax over those years. 

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.

Statement from ufotable from the studios website:

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.”

Sources: NHK, Sankei, ufotable

—-

Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.