A Story in Yokohama -25【Yokohama District Court】
A Story in Yokohama【 Subtitled "Longing"】-25
Soon after, Naomi and Yuichi were accused by the National Tax Administration Bureau to the Public Prosecutor's Office.
At the time of the accusation, both of them had confessed to everything, so they were not arrested and were allowed to stay at home.
Eventually, the bill of indictment was served and the trial began.
In the first trial, the prosecutor read out the indictment, followed by the arraignment and the taking of evidence.
Naomi pleaded guilty and it was Yuichi's turn.
“What is your occupation?”
“I'm a tax accountant.”
The judge looked at him suspiciously, because it was normal for a tax accountant who was about to be tried in court for involvement in a tax evasion case to show his sincerity by returning his license if he admitted his guilt and was remorseful.
“Do you still hold that position?”
“Yes.”
“And you haven't closed the business?”
“I don't think it's necessary to close the business.”
“I see. Then let me ask you, do you admit the alleged facts regarding Mrs. Fukada's alleged violation of the inheritance tax law that you allegedly committed?”
“I may have filed Mrs. Fukada's inheritance tax return in an inappropriate manner. However, this is not tax evasion. It's just that the government and I have different views on property valuation.”
The judge looked surprised.
The prosecutor intervened.
“During the prosecutor's investigation, you admitted to conspiring with Naomi Fukada, who is here, to evade taxes by preparing false documents to make it look as if there had been a stock transfer during the decedent's lifetime. You're saying that was a lie?”
“I admit that I made a backdated contract, but I do not believe that the tax return I filed was evasive. If you think there is a difference in the way the shares are valued, I think it would be wrong to make it a criminal case, as it should be challenged in administrative proceedings.”
The judge said.
“I understand what you are saying, you are saying that this case is not tax evasion even though it is an administrative lawsuit?”
“Yes, sir. There is one more thing I would like to mention.”
“What is it?”
“No matter how much I say so, the trial has already started with me as the criminal defendant. Therefore, I would like to state an important truth on this opening day.”
Both the judge and the prosecutor listened in silence.
“The reason I took such pains to reduce the valuation of the unlisted shares in this filing was because Mrs. Fukada, who is here, strongly requested it.”
“What?”
Naomi stared at Yuichi.
“As you may know, I have been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Fukada for their kindness since I was a child. When Mr. Fukada passed away, I was asked by Mrs. Fukada to do something to avoid selling the shares, so I had no choice but to calculate the tax by using a somewhat aggressive method of underestimating the value of the shares. At that time, she asked me to reduce her taxes somehow by giving me some of the shares. I prepared the contract for the living transfer based on Mrs. Fukada's wish and filed this tax return.
Therefore, what I would like to say is that, in the first place, this case does not fit into a criminal case, and secondly, even if the case were to be tried under the category of a criminal case, I could not refuse Mrs. Fukada's request out of a sense of gratitude for her kindness, and I may have made a somewhat forceful evaluation. It wasn't something I did proactively.”
Naomi stood up and said to Yuichi, “Yuichi-san, are you really saying that?”
Yuichi did not look at Naomi, and remained silent.
The lawyer said to the judge.
“I did not anticipate defendant Murakami's answer today. But now that it has come to this, I think it would be better if the trials of Murakami and Fukada were separated. I will continue to defend Murakami only.”
“We'll let you know later if we decide to separate the trials and when the next trial will be. If that's the case, I'm sure you'll have a different opinion about the evidence we were going to accept or reject today from the one we've been discussing.”
“Yes, I disagree with all the evidence related to Murakami's statement regarding his trial.”
“I understand. As long as there is a clear point of contention, we will hold the procedure for the admission or rejection of evidence on an appropriate schedule.”
The judge then asked Naomi,
“Murakami said he would not admit to the crime of tax evasion, but you just said you would. Is there any change in that?”
Naomi said in a low voice,
“I admit my guilt.”
Yuichi and Naomi did not look at each other.
Commentary
At the first arraignment, Yuichi denied the charges and claimed that it was Naomi, not him, who led the case, which stunned Naomi.
To be continued...