Management agency Avantgarde is in trouble with the tax authorities. The company is suspected of hiding approximately 1.15 billion yen in earnings during a three-year period ending in December 2006, which comes out to 340 million yen in unpaid taxes. President Masaya Makino has already been reported to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

Avantgarde managed many popular celebrities such as Yuko Ogura, Kaori Manabe, and Shoko Hamada until it was integrated last year into the public company Avilla, which now handles Ogura and the others.

According to the accusations, Avantgarde transferred funds to a separate agency under the pretense of various fees, but that agency was just a dummy company indirectly controlled by Makino.