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Game Maker Konami: Similarly Named Company in Panama Papers Is Unrelated


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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3426
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 3:56 pm Reply with quote
How much can we trust Konami on this?

From their own history page;

In July 2000;
Quote:
The corporate name was changed from KONAMI CO., LTD. to KONAMI CORPORATION.

And interesting reading from 2006, take special note of March entry;
Quote:
February
Internet Revolution, Inc. was established as a joint venture company with Internet Initiative Japan Inc.Internet Revolution, Inc. was established as a joint venture company with Internet Initiative Japan Inc.

March
KONAMI acquired capital in Resort Solution Co., Ltd. (equity method affiliate), simultaneously securing a business alliance.

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. was newly established to take over KONAMI's digital entertainment business and KONAMI CORPORATION shifted to a pure holding company.

August
KPE, Inc. started distributing pachinko slot machines.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 4:27 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The "Konami Corporation Limited" that appears in the Offshore Leaks Database, what is called the "Panama Papers," is entirely unrelated to Konami Group.

This calls for a lampoon, I say.

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DragonSpikeXIII





PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 5:15 pm Reply with quote
The cherry on the proverbial top. I hope this hits them hard in some way or another.
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 5:59 pm Reply with quote
Hmm... Perhaps some suspicious activity are at work within Konami...
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DRosencraft



Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 665
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 6:46 pm Reply with quote
This is the problem with the media of today and the media of the past. Instead of info-dumping a bunch of names and saying "hey everyone, dig through this list we got", there would have been some actual research and building of a story. You know, journalism about who the names on the list are, what they've done, is there actually any criminal wrongdoing? So, rather than leaving people to potentially wrongfully lynching someone who just happens to have a similar name, or conversely, letting someone get away with it or indefinitely delaying any real blow-back by just saying "oh, that's not really me".
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jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1994
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 7:01 pm Reply with quote
Zin5ki wrote:

This calls for a lampoon, I say.



That's good. That's damn good!.gif
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XerneasYveltal



Joined: 09 Jun 2015
Posts: 667
Location: Philippines
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 7:40 pm Reply with quote
Makes me wonder if that's either a different kind of Konami or a blatant lie.
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Levitz9



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 1022
Location: Puerto Rico
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 8:19 pm Reply with quote
DRosencraft wrote:
This is the problem with the media of today and the media of the past. Instead of info-dumping a bunch of names and saying "hey everyone, dig through this list we got", there would have been some actual research and building of a story. You know, journalism about who the names on the list are, what they've done, is there actually any criminal wrongdoing? So, rather than leaving people to potentially wrongfully lynching someone who just happens to have a similar name, or conversely, letting someone get away with it or indefinitely delaying any real blow-back by just saying "oh, that's not really me".


Especially important considering people would take even a sneeze from Konami as evidence of it being the Anti-Christ these days.

Konami could leave a thousand dollars and a gilded gaming mouse in every gamer's lap, people would still find some way to make it prove Konami was the dingo that stole that woman's baby.
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2251
Location: Online Terminal
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 8:46 pm Reply with quote
There's some plausibility here. For example, how many banks call themselves First National Bank? Similar does not always equal same.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5821
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 8:52 pm Reply with quote
XerneasYveltal wrote:
Makes me wonder if that's either a different kind of Konami or a blatant lie.


I am sure the Japanese government is asking that same question, but they probably have an eye for it actually being Konami.


DRosencraft wrote:
This is the problem with the media of today and the media of the past. Instead of info-dumping a bunch of names and saying "hey everyone, dig through this list we got", there would have been some actual research and building of a story. You know, journalism about who the names on the list are, what they've done, is there actually any criminal wrongdoing?


Well, you can't really blame them for that. Who is "not" going to report on a leaked list of companies and leaders who have secret bank accounts. If by the chance some of them took the "supposed" high road, by the time they did the actual reporting, it will already be 'old' news. You didn't see anybody championing giving America the benefit of the doubt when WikiLeaks started unloading.

There is usually only one reason to have secret off-shore bank accounts. Sure there should be the presumption of innocence in a court of law, but this is quite damning. A murderer kills his victim, but it was all filmed in glorious HD from multiple security cameras and there are tons of witnesses who saw the actual killing. Sure this is a dream scenario, but the point is we all know he did it beyond a doubt. They guilty verdict is just a legal process.

Seems like Konami is going to play the 'Shell' game for their defense strategy against an expected Japanese investigation.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 9:10 pm Reply with quote
I would actually lean towards Konami telling the truth about this. Two things here: 1) "Konami" is an actual Japanese word and thus it can be the name of more than one thing (much like how there are a lot of companies and products in the Anglosphere called "Ace" or "Jupiter" or somesuch), and 2) This may be the name of a shell company, which is a company in name only (there may only be just the owner, with no buildings or functions) and used solely for tax evasion purposes.

I can't be sure what's actually going on with the latter, however. There isn't enough information to say.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5821
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 9:39 pm Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
I would actually lean towards Konami telling the truth about this. Two things here: 1) "Konami" is an actual Japanese word and thus it can be the name of more than one thing (much like how there are a lot of companies and products in the Anglosphere called "Ace" or "Jupiter" or somesuch), and 2) This may be the name of a shell company, which is a company in name only (there may only be just the owner, with no buildings or functions) and used solely for tax evasion purposes.

I can't be sure what's actually going on with the latter, however. There isn't enough information to say.


Perhaps you are right, though I would have thought the name Konami would be trademarked.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 10:09 pm Reply with quote
TarsTarkas wrote:
Perhaps you are right, though I would have thought the name Konami would be trademarked.


I'm certain Konami, the game company, has trademarked it. But it really only applies if something else is similar enough for it to be confusing. If you wanted to start, say, a plumbing business, and there isn't already one called Konami, then you're free to call it Konami Plumbing Corporation. No one's going to confuse a plumbing service with a game company (especially if the logos are different). But you can't start a computer software company and call it Konami. That's too similar to video games. Or a slot machine company called Konami, because it's too close to their pachinko.

From what I've seen of shell companies, people just name them whatever they feel like, as long as there hasn't already been another shell company of that name. One of the shell companies found in the Panama Papers, for instance, is named Kagemusha but is owned by Argentineans and has nothing to do with any Japanese person whatsoever.

That being said, what Blanchimont found is pretty suspicious. A pure holding company called "Konami Corporation" would be awfully similar to a shell company called "Konami Coroporation Limited." It'd be a pretty dumb move to name a means to commit tax evasion after your legitimate company though.
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c933103



Joined: 20 Feb 2010
Posts: 64
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2016 12:24 am Reply with quote
Blanchimont wrote:
How much can we trust Konami on this?

From their own history page;

In July 2000;
Quote:
The corporate name was changed from KONAMI CO., LTD. to KONAMI CORPORATION.

And interesting reading from 2006, take special note of March entry;
Quote:
February
Internet Revolution, Inc. was established as a joint venture company with Internet Initiative Japan Inc.Internet Revolution, Inc. was established as a joint venture company with Internet Initiative Japan Inc.

March
KONAMI acquired capital in Resort Solution Co., Ltd. (equity method affiliate), simultaneously securing a business alliance.

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. was newly established to take over KONAMI's digital entertainment business and KONAMI CORPORATION shifted to a pure holding company.

August
KPE, Inc. started distributing pachinko slot machines.


It's very common for famous company being registered by others in places that they didn't care for, lots of companies are forced to change their brand name for this. Plus if you are setting up proxy companies else where and don't want people know it, why would you use your own company name for the purpose.

TarsTarkas wrote:
leafy sea dragon wrote:
I would actually lean towards Konami telling the truth about this. Two things here: 1) "Konami" is an actual Japanese word and thus it can be the name of more than one thing (much like how there are a lot of companies and products in the Anglosphere called "Ace" or "Jupiter" or somesuch), and 2) This may be the name of a shell company, which is a company in name only (there may only be just the owner, with no buildings or functions) and used solely for tax evasion purposes.

I can't be sure what's actually going on with the latter, however. There isn't enough information to say.


Perhaps you are right, though I would have thought the name Konami would be trademarked.

But trademark registration are limited individual country/region.

TarsTarkas wrote:
XerneasYveltal wrote:
Makes me wonder if that's either a different kind of Konami or a blatant lie.


I am sure the Japanese government is asking that same question, but they probably have an eye for it actually being Konami.


DRosencraft wrote:
This is the problem with the media of today and the media of the past. Instead of info-dumping a bunch of names and saying "hey everyone, dig through this list we got", there would have been some actual research and building of a story. You know, journalism about who the names on the list are, what they've done, is there actually any criminal wrongdoing?


Well, you can't really blame them for that. Who is "not" going to report on a leaked list of companies and leaders who have secret bank accounts. If by the chance some of them took the "supposed" high road, by the time they did the actual reporting, it will already be 'old' news. You didn't see anybody championing giving America the benefit of the doubt when WikiLeaks started unloading.

There is usually only one reason to have secret off-shore bank accounts. Sure there should be the presumption of innocence in a court of law, but this is quite damning. A murderer kills his victim, but it was all filmed in glorious HD from multiple security cameras and there are tons of witnesses who saw the actual killing. Sure this is a dream scenario, but the point is we all know he did it beyond a doubt. They guilty verdict is just a legal process.

Seems like Konami is going to play the 'Shell' game for their defense strategy against an expected Japanese investigation.


International reporters spent over a year studying those documents before releasing this info bank.

----------


btw, I am not sure about why everyone is making such a big deal off it. Isn't offshore company something very common and very easy to setup? And we all know that tons of people have tons of offshore companies, it's not like we only learn about this fact now. Also, as a official in Japanese tax office said, setting up offshore companies in tax heaven is completely legal.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2016 1:10 am Reply with quote
Offshore account by itself isn't illegal.
It's when ya don't disclose it for appropriate local tax laws when it becomes illegal.
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