Yuji Naka, co-creator of Sonic and director of the infamous Balan Wonderland, has been arrested again on alleged insider trading charges surrounding Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. This comes after Naka first arrest in novemberon similar insider trading charges but in a different game, a new Dragon Quest title.
According to Asahi (via CVG), Naka, and another Square Enix employee, Taisuke Sazaki, were aware of Square Enix’s plans to work with Ateam on Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. Naka and Sazaki are accused of buying Ateam shares before an official announcement was released.
Naka reportedly bought some 120,000 shares of the company for around 144.7 million yen (approximately $1 million). Sazaki reportedly bought 91,000 shares for approximately ¥105 million yen (approximately $769,000) and also passed the information on to an acquaintance who also bought shares. Sazaki and Naka reportedly earned hundreds of millions of yen from their alleged insider trading activities.
In November, FNN reported that Naka allegedly knew that the Aiming studio would help develop Dragon Quest Tact and bought the studio’s shares ahead of an official announcement. Naka reportedly bought 10,000 Aiming shares for about 2.8 million yen.
Naka left Square Enix in 2021 and as evidenced by his allegations that Square Enix treated him unfairly throughout the development of Balan Wonderland, he parted ways on acrimonious terms with the company.
It’s unclear what’s next in the investigation against Naka.
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