Considered the “dad” of Sonic, Yuji Naka was arrested by the Japanese police.
The latter is indeed accused of insider trading, along with other members of Square-Enix.
Yuji Naka, one of the figures of our childhood
If Nintendo has its Shigeru Miyamoto, SEGA can count in its ranks a certain Yuji Naka, who started with the Japanese firm in the mid-1980s. A few years later, the latter will be at the origin (with others) of a certain Sonic the Hedgehog and quickly take control of the sacrosanct Sonic Team.
We also owe him titles such as Phantasy Star, Amigo’s Samba, Nights into Dreamsand more recently Billy Hatcher, Astro Boy or Sonic Riders. In 2018, Yuji Naka joined Square-Enix, with a first (and only) game that will not be remembered: Balan Wonderworld.
One of the Creators of Sonic Arrested… But Why?
At the very end of last week, this same Yuji Naka was arrested by the Japanese police, as well as Fumiaki Suzuki and Taisuke Sasaki. All three are accused of insider trading and suspected of having bought shares of Aiming Co before the announcement of Dragon Quest Tact in 2020.
Indeed, they were aware of this new project DragonQuest before its formalization and thus bought shares in the studio Aiming Co before the company’s stock rose, following the announcement of the game. According to various sources, if Fumiaki Suzuki and Taisuke Sasaki are suspected of having bought for 325,000 euros in shares, Yuji Naka would have invested 19,000 euros in the company. This manoeuvre, which consists of a person buying or selling listed securities (often shares), when they have information about this company that others do not have, is called insider trading.
The Square-Enix group has for its part confirmed that it is working closely with the investigators, in order to deliver all the details concerning this case. The firm has already promised to strengthen its internal measures to avoid this type of procedure in the future.
Source : Kotaku
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