The founder of the talent agency that manages singer Namie Amuro was arrested Thursday with eight others on suspicion of evading 938 million yen in corporate taxes in the three years to August 1999, investigative sources said.
Tetsuo Taira, 55, founder and former president of Rising Production Co., now called Freegate Promotion Co., and the eight others are suspected of concealing 2.5 billion yen in corporate income during the period, the sources said.
Prosecutors and tax investigators have searched some 50 sites, including Freegate Promotion's head office in Tokyo's Minato Ward, in connection with the case.