TOKYO (TR) – The popular head of a mail order health food company who has been indicted on suspicion of tax evasion was released on bail on Tuesday, reports Fuji (Feb. 12).
At around 4:30 p.m., Yuta Misaki, the 29-year-old representative director of Media Hearts, was released from the Tokyo Detention House after posting bail of 60 million yen.
Last month, Misaki was accused of evading 140 million yen in corporate taxes and 40 million yen in consumption taxes by concealing 513 million yen in revenue over a two-year period through September, 2017.
According to a special investigative unit of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office, Misaki evaded the taxes by falsely earmarking funds sent to an account in the name of Go Kato, a 34-year-old executive at another firm, as non-existent advertising expenses. It is believed that Misaki received a portion of the funds as a kickback.
Media Hearts was founded in 2007 under the motto “for women wanting beauty,” according to its web site. The company primarily targets young women in the online sale of its products, including its Fabius brand of fruit juices that are claimed to contain a large number of enzymes considered healthy.
According to a credit research company, Media Hearts launched its e-commerce site in 2014. For the fiscal year ending in September the following year, it had accumulated about 600 million yen in sales. The figure ballooned to 12.1 billion by September of 2017.
Due to the success of the company, Misaki became known as “Green Juice Prince” within the mainstream media.
