Yuji Naka, a co-creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, has been arrested for insider trading a second time. The news comes not long after Naka was previously arrested on similar charges after his departure from Square Enix.
Per Asahi via Takashi Mochizuki on Twitter, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office was arrested for insider trading related to Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier.
Asahi: Naka and another former Square Enix employee allegedly bought shares of Ateam after they learned about Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier is being developed while that information is not public.https://t.co/84VZlTRx5s
— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) December 7, 2022
Naka and another former Square Enix employee had allegedly bought shares of Ateam after learning they were working on The First Soldier before the knowledge became public. The article mentions Naka purchased 120,000 shares of Ateam, with a value of ¥144.7 million yen.
“We have been fully cooperating with requests from the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission,” Square Enix said last month. “As the investigation by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is underway, we will continue to fully cooperate with their investigation.”
“We deeply regret the great concern this has caused to all concerned. We have dealt with this incident strictly, including internal disciplinary actions taken against the suspected employees.”
