Sonic The Hedgehog Co-Creator Yuji Naka Gets Suspended Prison Sentence For Insider Trading

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has been given a suspended prison sentence for insider trading.

News of this sentencing comes from IGN (via IGN Japan), which reports that the 57-year-old was “found guilty of violating Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act” for insider trading after a July 7 court appearance at the Tokyo District Court. The judge in the case gave Naka a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence but suspended for four years, and two fines of 2 million yen and 170 million yen (approximately $14,000 and $1.1 million respectively). 

This sentencing comes roughly a month after Abema Times reported in June that prosecutors on the case were asking that Naka go to prison for two years and six months and fines totaling roughly $1.2 million. However, Naka’s defense asked that this fine and prison sentence be reduced. The final verdict arrived on July 7 in Japan. 

Naka, who also directed Balan Wonderworld, was arrested in November in connection to an insider trading investigation centered around a new Dragon Quest game. Naka was accused of purchasing 10,000 shares worth 2.8 million yen (roughly $20,000) in Aiming, the company behind that new mobile Dragon Quest game. 

Less than a month later, Naka was arrested once more on a second charge of insider trading; this time involving the now-defunct mobile battle royale, Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. Naka was accused of purchasing 120,000 shares in Ateam, the developer behind the game, for approximately 144.7 million yen (more than $1 million). 

Naka has now been formally charged and sentenced for insider trading. 

[Source: IGN via IGN Japan]