Yuji Naka has reportedly been arrested as part of the Square Enix insider trading investigation
Former Sonic Team head and Sonic the Hedgehog programmer Yuji Naka has reportedly been arrested in relation to the ongoing Square Enix insider trading investigation.
Japanese news site FNN Prime Online reports that Naka is now the latest suspenct in a case regarding insider trading surrounding a new Dragon Quest game.
On Thursday two former Square Enix employees were arrested in Tokyo as part of a suspected insider trading scheme.
Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki were arrested for acquiring stock in Japanese developer Aiming, shortly before it was announced that it was working on a new Dragon Quest game.
The two reportedly purchased around ¥47 million ($336,300) of stock in Aiming, just before it was publicly confirmed that it was developing mobile title Dragon Quest Tact.
Now, according to FNN, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors’ Office’s Special Investigation Department has also arrested Naka for a similar potential infringement.
It’s alleged that before Dragon Quest Tact was announced, Naka – who was working on Balan Wonderworld for Square Enix at the time – purchased approximately 10,000 shares of Aiming stock for around ¥2.8 million ($20,000).
By purchasing the stock before the announcement, the belief is that all three suspects may have knowingly used insider information in order to later sell the stock again when its value increased.
Following the arrests of the original two suspects, Square Enix made a statement confirming that the pair were former employees and stating that it was working with authorities on the investigation.
“Today, some media outlets reported that the former employees of Square Enix were under investigation for suspected insider trading,” the statement reads.
“We have been fully cooperating with
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