OSAKA (Kyodo) The president of a pachinko firm and four of his relatives were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of evading 2.8 billion yen in taxes by hiding about 7.9 billion yen of individual incomes as well as revenue from pachinko parlors in Kyoto and Osaka prefectures, prosecutors and tax bureau sources said.
The total represents one of the largest tax evasion cases ever recorded in Japan, they said.
Arrested were Choi Dae Su, 69, president of Kyoto-based pachinko parlor operator Yamamura who also goes by the Japanese name Tomohichi Yamamura, his brother Taizo, 66, and the president's three sons -- Insai, 42, Eisai, 39, and Nichisai, 35.
All five admitted to the allegations, but Insai and Eisai were quoted as saying they were only following their father's instructions.
The company, which owns a parlor in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, is suspected of evading about 460 million yen in corporate tax for three years to November 2005.
The company is suspected of posting a profit of about 1.56 billion yen for that period but reported to tax authorities that it had made a pittance.