Nihon Univ. Ex - Chairman Gets 1 - Year Suspended Sentence Over Tax Evasion
A court in Japan has found the former head of one of the country's largest universities guilty of tax evasion.
Nihon University's former Chairman Tanaka Hidetoshi was accused of concealing a taxable income of about 118 million yen, or roughly one million dollars, and evading 52 million yen, or 420,000 dollars, in income tax in 2018 and 2020.
The income allegedly included kickbacks from a former head of a medical corporation and a former board member of the university. Both men have been indicted for a breach of trust for causing a loss to the university over a contract for its hospital.
At the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday, the presiding judge, Nohara Toshiro, acknowledged that Tanaka proactively received massive amounts of cash from contractors.
The judge said Tanaka kept the cash at his home and instructed his wife to exclude the money from his tax declarations, a move Nohara described as simple but daring.
The judge went on to say that Tanaka tried to cover up the fact that he received kickbacks despite previous warnings in 2015 by tax authorities about undeclared earnings.
The presiding judge said that Tanaka acted out of selfish motives, leaving no grounds for leniency.
The court gave Tanaka a one-year prison sentence, suspended for three years, along with a fine of 13 million yen, or about 105,000 dollars.
Tanaka had been the chairman of Nihon University for 13 years.
Tanaka issued a comment through his lawyer saying that he takes the ruling seriously.
The lawyer says Tanaka will not appeal the ruling.