Yuji Naka re-arrested for new Square Enix insider trading allegations
From bad to worse
Back in mid-November, Yuji Naka, the former head of Sonic Team and the director of such titles as 2021’s Balan Wonderworld, was arrested in connection to alleged insider trading. According to reports, Naka was connected to insider trading during his time at Square Enix. Unfortunately for Naka, it appears his legal woes were just getting started.
A new report states that Naka has been arrested again, and for the same series of allegations as last time. The difference here is that Naka was apparently involved with insider trading tied to the release of a Final Fantasy game, while the last instance was connected to Dragon Quest.
Naka is accused of purchasing 144.7m yen’s worth of shares in ATeam, the developer of the mobile game Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier. Naka purchased these shares before any public announcement of Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier was made.
While Square Enix commented on and confirmed the last series of allegations, they’re yet to provide a statement on this latest round. Should they do so, we’ll update this post with their statement.
Add Comment
riftsilver
1+ y agoCoincidentally, 中 (naka) can mean 'inside' in Japanese. Living up to his name I suppose.
tendonin
1+ y agoIf Martha Stewart can get through it, so can he! Though Martha Stewart didn't direct Balan Wonderworld...
sligeach_eire
1+ y agoYuji Naka, you are up to your neck a in trouble.
sligeach_eire
1+ y agoYuji Naka, you are up to your neck a in trouble.
There's a rumor since Yuji hasn't received much money and this would be his first offense if convicted, he would get a suspended sentence. Though his career as a mainstream dev is likely over. He can try to be an indie dev, but Japanese gamers probably will ignore his releases leaving it a longshot to gather international support to continue his way of living.
This is barring of course if Square doesn't take Yuji to the cleaners because of Yuji's lawsuit. Square has been given a lot of ammo to put holes in Yuji's lawsuit and Square will use the two arrests as ammo.
Comments (5)