Photo/Illutration Hidetoshi Tanaka, former board chairman of Nihon University, listens to a prosecutor’s opening statement at the Tokyo District Court on Feb. 15. (Image drawn by Kageyoshi Koyanagi)

Hidetoshi Tanaka, former board chairman of Nihon University, pleaded guilty to tax evasion at the first hearing of his trail at the Tokyo District Court on Feb. 15.

“I have no intention to dispute the charge,” Tanaka, 75, said.

He is standing trial on a charge of violating the Income Tax Law by concealing about 120 million yen ($1.04 million) in income and dodging tax payments of around 50 million yen.

The hidden income included alleged kickbacks from suspected breach of trust incidents, but investigators said they could not obtain sufficient evidence showing Tanaka’s direct involvement in that case.

Instead, he was indicted in December last year on a charge of evading about 52 million yen in income tax payments by hiding 10 million yen in income in 2018 and 108.2 million yen in 2020.

A prosecutor said in the opening statement at the trial that Tadao Inoguchi, a 64-year-old former board member of the university and a close confidant of Tanaka, handed Tanaka and his wife “kickbacks” collected from multiple businesses connected to the university.

Prosecutors said Inoguchi, with the Tanaka couple’s permission, had made a huge amount of money available to a company run by Masami Yabumoto, 61, former chairman of Osaka-based major medical corporation Kinshukai, since around 2017.

Both Inoguchi and Yabumoto have been indicted of breach of trust charges over allegations they caused the university to lose around 420 million yen through shady transactions involving Nihon University Itabashi Hospital in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward.

The loss stems from contracts with companies selected to rebuild the hospital as well as for the procurement of medical equipment.

Of the Tanaka’s hidden income of 118.20 million yen, 75 million yen came from Yabumoto as a token of appreciation or as gifts celebrating Tanaka’s reappointment as the university’s board chairman or his birthday, prosecutors said.

The unreported income also included 40 million yen from construction or architectural companies as “thank-you” gifts for being selected to undertake the hospital reconstruction work, prosecutors said.

The cash often changed hands at a hot-pot restaurant run by Tanaka’s wife.

Tanaka received around 70 million yen while his wife was being handed just under 50 million yen, and the money was kept at their home, investigators said.

Tanaka instructed his wife to file tax returns that excluded the kickbacks, investigators said.

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