News
Anime Collectible Firm's Head Convicted of Tax Evasion
posted on by Egan Loo
The Tokyo District Court has convicted Kyōko Ōkubo, the founder and president of the Cominica manufacturer of anime collectibles, of tax evasion. She was charged last November with concealing about 198 million yen (about US$1.9 million) so that her company would not have to pay 57 million yen (US$570,000) in additional taxes. Her company was best known for making figurines for the award-winning Studio Ghibli films. Ōkubo has been sentenced to a one-year prison term, suspended for three years, and Cominica was fined 14 million yen (US$140,000). The company's former legal advisor Takanobu Takehara has also been convicted and sentenced to a ten-month prison term, suspended for three years.
Cominica's website is still active, but most stores have since sold out of its products. It began in 1985 as a design firm and manufacturer of collectibles for other companies, and has worked on toys and collectibles for Zyu Ranger (adapted as the first Power Rangers series), The Nightmare before Christmas, Snoopy, and Metropolis. It also created the three-dimensional Doraemon model that was used a sample for character goods and contributed to the Ghibli Museum and Doraemon Museum's displays.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun
