Pokémon Go's voice actor accused of withholding COVID-19 relief funds from employees

According to a report in Japanese magazine Friday, Rika Matsumoto, the Japanese voice actor of Satoshi Ketchum, the protagonist of the Pokémon series, is suspected of defrauding the Japanese government of COVID-19 relief funds.

The report wrote that Matsumoto Rika's former agent claimed that she had defrauded government relief funds. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese government provided some assistance to artists affected by the epidemic. Artists in need can apply for 100,000 yen (about 6,292 yuan) in relief funds.

Rika Matsumoto herself denies the allegations, and their authenticity has not yet been confirmed.

Since "Pokemon" is still in normal broadcast this year, the economic situation of the voice actors in the work has obviously not been affected by the new crown epidemic, which means that Matsumoto Rika does not meet the conditions for receiving relief. The magazine report mentioned that Matsumoto Rika was accused of submitting a list of six people in an epidemic relief project and depositing the relief money she applied for into the company's bank account instead of distributing it to everyone.

The former agent alleged that Matsumoto Rika used her information to apply for relief without her knowledge. The agent reported the situation to the authorities, saying that the relief funds should be directly distributed to each applicant in accordance with regulations (she also revealed that Matsumoto Rika had a bad temper, often arbitrarily changed the script of the "Pokemon" animation, was not an easy person to get along with, and had changed 10 assistants in the past 4 years). The local government also found that the agent was not eligible to apply for relief and demanded the return of the money.

However, Matsumoto Rika refused to admit all the above allegations, saying that her agent had agreed to participate before the project was launched and provided a lot of advice on the filming plan. After the money was paid, she could only keep it for her because she could not contact her agent who had already resigned, and has now returned the money.