Earlier this month I reported on Qin Xiping, the 49th (or 34th) Grand Master of the Shaolin Temple. Qin had been accused by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau of hiding about 130 million yen. Qin at the time was rumored to be back in China, safely away from the Japanese tax authorities.
Apparently, he wasn’t. He was arrested earlier this week, and both his home and the All Japan Shaolin Temple Qigong Association were raided by prosecutors. Qin is accused now of not paying 38 million yen in taxes. He has denied the charges. In the earlier article he was quoted as saying, “I’m only temporarily in charge of the money, on behalf of the head temple, so it’s not my money.” I know next to nothing about Japanese tax law, but I doubt that excuse will hold up.