Yuji Naka admits guilt in Square Enix insider trading case
Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has admitted his guilt in taking part in an insider trading scheme at Square Enix.
As reported by NHK, Naka has been standing trial at the Tokyo District Court, and when presented with his charges, admitted that there was “no doubt” he had done what he was being accused of.
Naka is charged with violating Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, by illegally buying shares based on inside information.
After his arrest in November 2022, it was alleged that Naka – who was working on Balan Wonderworld for Square Enix at the time – was made aware that Japanese developer Aiming was working on a new Dragon Quest mobile game called Dragon Quest Tact before it was officially announced.
Naka then allegedly bought approximately 10,000 shares of Aiming stock for around ¥2.8 million ($20,000), with the intention to sell it again once the game was announced and Aiming’s stock value increased.
Naka was then arrested a second time in December, relating to allegations that he had carried out similar insider trading after learning confidential information that Square was planning to make Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier with mobile developer ATeam Entertainment.
In the ongoing case, the prosecutor’s opening statement claimed that Naka accessed a website containing materials and minutes of investment meetings and learned of the existence of the joint development of the new Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games.
It’s claimed that, armed with this knowledge, he then bought 130,000 shares, earning a profit of over ¥20 million ($146,000) upon their sale.
TBS News Dig quotes Naka as saying: “There is no doubt that I found out about the games before they were made public and bought shares in them.”
Naka
Read more on videogameschronicle.com
