Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Hirotoshi Honda, President of Mugen Co., was arrested on charges of evading about $10 million in corporate taxes.

Hirotoshi Honda, 61, is the son of the late Soichiro Honda, who founded Honda Motor Co.

Honda Motor Co. owned a 30% stake in Mugen between 1993 and 1999 but does not currently have any equity in the company.

Mugen originally hopped-up two-stroke motocross engines under the Mugen Honda name but now builds Honda racecar engines.

A former Mugen auditor, Norio Hirokawa, was also arrested.

According to police, the two conspired to reduce Mugen’s taxable income in a scheme involving lease payments to a dummy company.