A flamboyant entrepreneur known as the "Prince of Green Juice" in Japan was arrested for alleged tax evasion on Tuesday.

Tokyo prosecutors raided beauty and diet product company Media Hearts Co., which President Yuta Misaki set up in 2007, for evading about 180 million yen ($1.63 million) in taxes in the business year to September 2015 and in the year to September 2017. Two other individuals were also arrested for helping him.

The 29-year-old Misaki earned his moniker by changing public perceptions of "aojiru" green-leafed vegetable juice, which he began marketing in 2014, from a bitter-tasting health regimen for the elderly into a trendy drink for young women.

Misaki frequently appeared on TV and internet programs as the Prince of Green Juice. He also had a strong social media presence, which he used to flaunt his wealth, saying his monthly pay was 100 million yen, that he bought a villa or that he was late catching a plane because he had bought armfuls of luxury goods in Europe.

He also complained on Twitter last December that Japan was "mean" to the rich, and moved to Malta that month to avoid paying taxes in Japan.

"Tax authorities force brilliant high earners to leave for overseas by throttling them and bullying them," he told Kyodo News.

"I did not evade paying taxes," Misaki added, regarding the allegation.

(Prosecutors raid Media Hearts on Feb. 12, 2019.)

Prosecutors allege that Misaki evaded around 40 million yen in consumption tax and around 140 million yen in corporate tax by padding the company's advertising expenses.

Go Kato, 34, a company executive, and Yumiko Naito, 49, an outsourcing services operator, were arrested as accomplices.

Media Hearts, which sells beauty and diet products for young women, had 12.1 billion yen in sales for the fiscal year through September 2017, compared with sales of 1.8 billion yen in the year before.