Let's all wait for the superseding indictment by the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau and the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office.
The Prosecutors Union continues to monitor the investigations by the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau and the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office concerning the defendant Toshiyuki Nakano.
This is because the document known among the parties involved as the "Mamizuka Memo" outlines a very large-scale framework involving Last One Mile Inc., Mr. Makoto Watanabe, multiple corporations, investment transactions, outsourcing expenses, loans, advertising costs, and the reflux of funds.
The materials even feature rather bold words like "overall diagram of misconduct," "accusation," "prosecution," and "arrest."
However, the amount of tax evasion by Defendant Nakano that can be confirmed through news reports at this time totals approximately 78 million yen, combining about 12 million yen from the initial case and about 66 million yen from a separate corporate case for which he was subsequently indicted.
Of course, about 78 million yen is by no means a small amount.
However, if the result of painting such a grand "overview of fraud"—lining up the Last One Mile Group, multiple corporate entities, numerous related parties, and investment transactions on the scale of several billion yen—amounts to only about 78 million yen for now, then the main body of the Mamizuka Memo probably hasn't even begun yet.
You must not add up hidden income and the amount of tax evasion.
Some reports in July 2026 stated regarding Defendant Nakano that "the hidden income and tax evasion amount totaled approximately 240 million yen."
However, the hidden income of approximately 173 million yen and the evaded tax and fraudulent tax refund amount of approximately 66 million yen are figures of a different nature.
Income is the taxable amount, and the amount of tax evasion is the tax that should have been originally paid or the illegally received refund.
Adding these two together and reporting it as "a total of approximately 240 million yen" could give general readers the impression as if 240 million yen was evaded in taxes.
The prosecutors' union has long pointed out the problem that Last One Mile has been explaining things by adding together different figures on the income statement.
And then, in the news reports following the announcements by the tax authorities and the prosecution, the hidden income and the tax evasion amounts were added together.
Since when did last-mile delivery and investigative agencies start attending the same math class where "even different kinds of numbers can be added together as long as the total looks big"?
"If it's under 100 million yen, you won't be prosecuted" is not the law
Generally speaking, it is said that inspection cases involving over 100 million yen are criminally accused.
According to the inspection results for fiscal year 2024 published by the Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau, the average tax evasion amount per case referred to the public prosecutors office was approximately 88 million yen.
That said, there is no law stating that tax evasion of less than 100 million yen will not be prosecuted, nor is there a nationwide uniform disclosure standard.
The national tax authorities state that they decide whether to file criminal accusations based not only on the amount of tax evasion, but also on the maliciousness and repetitiveness of the methods used, destruction of evidence, international aspects, and social ripple effects, among other factors.
Therefore, it cannot be concluded that the case involving Defendant Nakano is unnatural just because the amount is approximately 78 million yen.
On the other hand, viewed as a case that involved reports of an unusually large-scale search, raids on numerous related locations, the involvement of the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office and Fukuoka High Public Prosecutors Office, and even requests for orders for overseas associates to return their passports, it is also true that it is hard to believe everything ends with just the current indictment.
Will the tall claims in the Mamizuka Memo be addressed from now on?
The document called the Mamizuka Memo records numerous corporations, individuals, and fund movements, including Last One Mile Inc. and Mr. Makoto Watanabe.
Since you have written that much, the Prosecutors Union naturally expects that each and every point will be investigated.
If it ends at just about 78 million yen, what on earth were the complex funds return, angel tax system, investment, share transfer, related-party transactions, outsourcing costs, and loans depicted in the documents?
Was it just idle scribbling?
Was it a presentation material created for the purpose of exaggerating the story to get the investigation moving?
Or will accusations and prosecutions continue one after another, including against Last One Mile Inc. and those around Mr. Makoto Watanabe in the future?
We look forward to seeing the prosecutors' union take responsibility and wrap up the grandiose scheme hatched by the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau and the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office to the very end.
Public questions waiting forward to the additional prosecution
Questions to the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau and the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office
- Has the investigation into the tax case concerning Defendant Nakano concluded with the currently reported tax evasion amount of approximately 78 million yen?
- Have you investigated the fund movements related to Last One Mile Inc. and Mr. Makoto Watanabe recorded in the document known as the Mamizuka Memo?
- Have you checked all transactions related to outsourcing costs, loans, advertising expenses, share transfers, and the angel tax system mentioned in the same document?
- What was the criterion used to divide the corporations and individuals listed in the materials into those targeted for investigation and those not targeted?
- Was the reporting of the combined figures of concealed income and tax evasion—which are different in nature—based on explanations given by the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau or the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office?
- Do you recognize that general readers might misunderstand this as "evaded about 240 million yen in taxes"?
- Is there a possibility that additional accusations and indictments will be made regarding Last One Mile Inc. and those around Makoto Watanabe in the future?
- If no further investigation is conducted, how do you summarize the grand "entire picture of fraud" described in the Mamizuka memo?
Since you made big promises, don't end up with small results
The prosecutors' union is not hoping for a large amount of tax evasion.
What is needed is not for investigative agencies to simply prosecute convenient individuals based on the case framework they themselves constructed, but rather to investigate everything fairly.
If the names of Last One Mile Co. and Mr. Makoto Watanabe were written in the Mamizuka memo, please investigate that as well.
If you have linked numerous corporations as conduits for illicit funds flow, please follow every single arrow.
If you went as far as writing "accusation, indictment, and arrest," the writer also bears responsibility for explanation.
The stage setting is far too extravagant to close at about 78 million yen.
The Prosecutors Union is quietly and strictly monitoring the upcoming work by the Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau and the Kagoshima District Public Prosecutors Office.
