Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka reportedly faces a prison sentence of two and a half years after alleged insider trading during his time at Square Enix. Following his work on Sonic the Hedgehog, Naka joined Final Fantasy developer Square Enix in 2018, twelve years after leaving Sega and working on projects with his independent studio Prope. He went on to createplatform game Balan Wonderworld, which was widely panned at release.
Naka departed Square Enix in 2021 following the release of Balan Wonderworld, later claiming that he was removed as the game’s director six months prior to its release, following internal disagreements. In November 2022, Naka wasarrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office alongside two other former Square Enix employees, and was charged with accusations of insider trading.
The prosecution claims that Naka invested heavily in shares of development studios Aiming and ATeam Entertainment before it was publicly revealed that they were working on Square Enix properties (Dragon Quest Tact and Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, respectively).
As reported by Japanese public broadcaster NHK News, Naka himself admitted in court in March that there was “no doubt” he was privy to such information before it was made public, leading to his purchase of stocks in the companies.
The prosecution claims that this knowledge led to “unfair profits from a significantly more advantageous position than generalinvestors, and undermined the fairness of the market.”
Now, Defaminicogamer reports that, during June 1 proceedings at the Tokyo District court, court prosecutors have demanded “a prison term of two years and six months, a fine of 2.5 million yen, and a fine of 170 million yen.” Those fines total roughly $1.23 million / £1 million, although Defaminicogamer adds that Naka’s defense isseeking a suspended sentence, along with a reduction to the total fines.
Final judgment is currently expected to be passed on July 7. We’ll keep you up to date on further details as this case progresses.
Header imageprovided by Yves Tennevin under Creative Commons license.
