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’s first arrest in November, for similar insider trading charges but on a different game, a new Dragon Quest title.
According to Asahi (via VGC), Naka and another Square Enix employee, Taisuke Sazaki, knew of Square Enix’s plans to work with Ateam on Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. Naka and Sazaki are accused of buying Ateam stocks before an official announcement went live.
Naka reportedly purchased an estimated 120,000 shares in the company for around ¥144.7 million yen (approximately $1 million USD). Sazaki reportedly bought 91,000 shares for approximately ¥105 million yen (approximately $769,000) and also passed along the info to an acquaintance who also purchased shares. Sazaki and Naka reportedly earned hundreds of millions of yen from their alleged insider trading activities.