Today ANN News reported that Sonic Creator Yuji Naka is possibly facing jail time and a hefty fine in the insider trading case that sees him as the defendant.
During the trial hearing held this morning at the Tokyo District Court, the prosecutors claimed that Naka-san misused his authority to access material and gather relevant information and committed insider trading with malicious criminal intent. They also claimed that he showed no remorse, and demanded a sentence of two years and six months in prison plus a 2.5 million yen fine and an additional charge of 170 approximately million yen. That's over $1.2 million at the current exchange rates.
On the other hand, Naka-san's defense requested the suspension of the jail sentence and the reduction of the additional charge, claiming that information unrelated to his duties was mistakenly sent to him and he just happened to see it. Basically, the claim is that he did not actively seek insider information, possibly reducing his responsibility in the case.
Since Naka-san already admitted his guilt following his arrest and the previous hearings, now the court will have to determine the extent of his responsibility. The defendant reportedly issued an apology to the court, saying that he "regrets undermining the fairness and credibility of the market."
The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on July 7, so we still don't know whether Naka-san will have to serve jail time or not.
Naka-san is accused of violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act by illegally purchasing shares in the game development studio that worked on Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest mobile games based on insider information acquired while he was working on Balan Wonderworld. Knowing the announcements ahead of time provided him with the awareness that the shares would grow in value.
Below you can check out the full report from ANN News.
Featured image courtesy of Yuji Naka's Twitter account.
