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Latest reports reveal that Hikaru Kondo, the founder of Ufotable, a production company responsible for the production of popular titles like Demon Slayer, has been imprisoned on account of violating the Corporation Tax Act. Kondo’s verdict, handed down today in the Tokyo District Court, included a 20-month prison sentence along with a three-year suspended sentence.
The perpetrator was found guilty of evading over 138 million yen ($1.25 million) in taxes. The production company has released its statements regarding the issue at hand and has apologized to its fans.
Production company Ufotable founder sentenced to prison for 20 months
Hikaru Kondo is the founder of Ufotable, an animation studio based out of Japan. The production company is responsible for animating titles such as Demon Slayer as well the Fate series. Recent reports have revealed that the founder of the production company has been found guilty of violating the Corporation Tax Act. The person in question has evaded tax liability of over $1.25 million.
The production company also released a statement after the verdict was handed down in the Tokyo District Court. They said:
"Today, our company and a representative have been convicted of violating corporate tax laws. We sincerely apologize to our fans who have been supporting our works, as well as to all other parties involved, for any concern or inconvenience caused by this. We will take this incident as an opportunity to make further efforts to ensure our compliance with laws and regulations as well as proper management to create a production environment that is sustainable to create better works."
The production company was fined 30 million yen ($265,000), and they have confirmed that the payment was done post-verdict. Reports suggest that Kondo moved money that was made by the cafes owned by Ufotable, into a safe in his house. This meant that he filed false income tax reports in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
The 52-year-old has supposedly evaded paying 28 million yen ($250,400) in consumption tax and 109 million yen ($990,400) in corporate tax. A statement from the court revealed that his wife, who was the accountant for the production company, refused to falsely file the reports. This clearly meant that Hikaru’s intention to evade tax was apparent and firm.
