Japanese Social Media Influencer Suspected of Tax Evasion

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–A Tokyo-based advertising company called Solarie, its president, Reika Kuroki, who is also a social media influencer, and two other individuls, are suspected of evading 157 million yen in corporate and other taxes, informed sources said Thursday. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau has filed a complaint against them with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, according to the sources. As influencer Reika Miyazaki, Kuroki has some 500,000 followers on Instagram. She promotes cosmetics and other products on the platform at requests from advertising agencies and receives fees via Solarie. The sources said that, over the three years through January 2025, the company is alleged to have concealed 496 million yen of its income and evaded 126 million yen in corporate and other taxes in total. The company is also suspected of evading 31 million yen in consumption and other taxes and trying to obtain a tax refund of 14 million yen between February 2022 and January 2024. Money from the tax evasion is believed to have been used for the company’s operating costs. Kuroki said in a comment that she has left the matter to her lawyer and cannot answer questions in detail. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]