Yuji Naka indicted in Square Enix insider trading case

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka and former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sasaki have been formally indicted following their arrest for alleged insider trading offenses.

According to NHK, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office has determined that Naka had confidential information that Square had planned to develop a Final Fantasy spin-off, Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier with mobile developer ATeam Entertainment.

Using this information, the Sonic the Hedgehog creator purchased ¥144.7 million yen ($834,000) of company stock, with the knowledge that stock value in the company would rapidly rise following the public announcement of the collaboration. Sasaki also allegedly purchased ¥105 million yen ($787,318) of stock.

It is currently unclear when Naka or Sasaki will stand trial.

It was alleged at the time of his first arrest that Naka was also implicated in a similar scheme surrounding the mobile game Dragon Quest Tact, developed by Aiming.

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).

At the time of the first arrest, Square Enix publicly committed to working with authorities on the matter.

“We have been fully cooperating with requests from the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission,” it said.

”As the investigation by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is underway, we will continue to fully cooperate with the 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.”