A Japanese anime studio known for producing popular anime series "Demon Slayer" and its president were found guilty Friday of evading a total of 138 million yen ($1.2 million) in corporate and consumption taxes.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Hikaru Kondo, 52, to 20 months in prison, suspended for three years, and slapped a 30 million yen fine on his company Ufotable Inc. for violating national tax laws.
"Despite the company being in the black since 2012 thanks to the popularity of its high-quality anime works that gained acclaim, (Ufotable) repeatedly underreported sales. As corporate manager, you cannot escape strong criticism," Presiding Judge Akiyuki Tanaka said in handing down the ruling.
But the court gave a suspended sentence to Kondo because he had already paid the evaded tax. Prosecutors had demanded a 20-month jail term for the president and a 40 million yen fine for the company.
According to the ruling, Kondo evaded a total of some 109.2 million yen in corporate taxes by understating the company's income for the fiscal years ending in August 2015, 2017 and 2018.
He also dodged about 28.8 million yen in consumption taxes between September 2014 and August 2018 by not reporting a portion of taxable sales.
Ufotable said in a statement it "offers a heartfelt apology to fans of our works and those concerned."
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