Electric components maker Aoi Suzuyoshi concealed about 1.5 billion yen in earnings for four years to the end of September 2001, evading some 500 million yen in corporate taxes, sources said Thursday.
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau has filed a criminal complaint against Tadashi Imai, 62, president of the firm, with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, the sources said.
The Tokyo-based manufacturer, founded in 1975, previously won awards from the taxation bureau as a model tax-paying company, they said.
But the bureau found about 2 billion yen in cash at the company when it carried out a compulsory inspection last September, the sources said.
They said they believe tax and penalties slapped by the bureau totaled about 900 million yen.
Adding the amount of taxes evaded over which the bureau could not file a complaint due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the firm concealed about 2.2 billion yen in earnings over six years, the sources said.
The firm, which mainly makes parts for computers and copiers, has revised its income tax report, the sources said.
A company spokesman said the taxes were paid in December, but he declined to comment on the alleged evasion.