The anime studio ufotable, along with its founder Hikaru Kondo, has been charged with tax evasion. The amount that is being reported by The Mainichi Shimbun that they failed to pay was 139 million yen, which is equivalent to about $1.28 million USD.
The paper stated that Kondo hid roughly 30% of proceeds from ufotable’s themed restaurants in a private safe in his home. Ledger books were then supposedly altered for the years 2015, 2017, and 2018 in an attempt to hide the missing funds. The amount that was concealed was reported to be about 446 million yen, or about $4.11 million USD. Kondo and ufotable were alleged to be using the unpaid tax money to fund the company.
It is also reported that Kondo’s lawyer made a statement claiming that Kondo has begun to correct this situation and has filed a proper corrected tax document and paid the amount of taxes owed. There is no word if this resolution will result in the evasion of any further legal action.
