Last Friday it was revealed in Bungeishunju’s Weekly Bunshun Digital magazine that Studio Ufotable, the studio that is known for producing various Fate/ series and The Garden of Sinners movies, allegedly owes 400 million yen ($3.57 million USD) in taxes. The source for this information is directly from the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau. The report also notes that Studio Ufotable is suspected of supposedly misappropriating funds raised from a charity auction for the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, a violation of the Penal Code that carries a potential prison sentence of no more than 10 years.
After news hit the public that the company was under investigation for tax evasion over three weeks ago because it was revealed that Hikaru Kondo was allegedly directly receiving some of the revenue gathered from the studio’s merchandise sales which weren’t transferred to the company’s bank account and instead taken directly by hand, Bungeishunju’s Weekly Bunshun Digital mentioned that a source from inside Studio Ufotable that the company founder Hikaru Kondo stayed at home and was consulting with his lawyer almost every day for a few days after the original report of the investigation. He has since then returned to work at the company’s Suginami studio as of two weeks ago.
No charges have been filed against Kondo or Studio Ufotable as of press time.
Hikaru Kondo first founded Studio Ufotable in 2000 and the studio is best known for the anime adaptation of Type-Moon’s Fate/ franchise. They’re also known for The Garden of Sinners.
