The Tokyo District Court has entered a guilty verdict and sentence against the founder, representative director and president of the anime studio Ufotable , Hikaru Kondo , accused of violating the Corporation Tax Law and the Consumption Tax Law. not paying 138 million yen ( about 1.25 million US dollars ) in taxes. Kondo has been sentenced to 20 months in prison, but the sentence is suspended for three years ( that is, if Kondo remains in good conduct for three years, he will not serve a prison sentence ).
The court commented that Kondo's wife, who acted as the company's accountant, was reluctant to manipulate the company's tax return, but Kondo insisted, showing a “ strong intention ” to commit fraud. On the company's official website, Ufotable issued a statement in which it acknowledged the sentence, apologized to the followers of the study and all related parties, and stated that it will use the incident as an opportunity to move towards a more sustainable level of production. that is kept within legal limits.
Kondo admitted the charges at a Tokyo District Court preliminary hearing on September 17. During the same hearing, Kondo issued an apology, admitting that he thought his tax evasion " would bring no trouble to Ufotable ." The prosecution said in its opening statement that Ufotable and Kondo concealed some of the company's cafeteria and merchandise revenue between 2015 and 2018 to cushion future business declines. The study allegedly hid about 441 million yen ( about 4 million US dollars ) in income ( NOTE: Do not confuse income with taxes, since the latter are derived from the former ).
Source: TV Asahi News, ufotable's website via Otakomu
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