Tokyo clinic director fails to report ¥1 billion COVID-19 subsidy

March 21, 2024
by JIJI

An investigation by the tax authorities found that the director of a medical cosmetic clinic in Tokyo failed to report approximately ¥1 billion ($6.6 million) of income in 2022, which she originally received as a subsidy for COVID-19 tests, sources said on Thursday. It's uncommon for a subsidy of this magnitude to be recognized as a recipient’s personal income.

According to the sources, Miho Ishiyama, a doctor who runs Skinsia Clinic in Tokyo’s Arakawa Ward, applied to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to register as a business operator to perform free COVID-19 testing in December 2021.

From March 2022, Ishiyama established testing facilities at three locations in Tokyo, including at Skinsia Clinic, and received subsidies for conducting PCR tests free of charge.