Without a doubt, Yuji Naka is one of the most celebrated personalities in the video game industry; after all, he is one of the main responsible for Sonic the Hedgehog. However, in recent months, he has been going through very difficult times. The situation is so serious that he could spend years in jail.
As we told you, Japanese authorities arrested the creative in November last year on suspicion of illegal enrichment. In December, just a couple of weeks later, he was arrested again for a similar offense. It did not take long for the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office to formally accuse him of insider trading.
In early March 2023, the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog admitted the charges against him during the first trial and stated that "there was no doubt" he was guilty of the allegations. Now, the case has been updated with bad news for the former designer of SEGA and Square Enix.
YUJI NAKA, CO-CREATOR OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, IS ONE STEP AWAY FROM PRISON
According to the latest reports, the Tokyo court ruled that the 57-year-old creative must serve a sentence of 2 and a half years in prison, as well as pay a fine valued at ¥2.5 million ($17,800 USD, approximately). The situation does not end here because the court also ordered an additional penalty of ¥170 million yen (about $1.21 million) because "he showed no signs of remorse."
Naturally, Yuji Naka's defense rejected this situation and has already requested that the fine be reduced and the sentence suspended. It is worth noting that the final decision will be made on July 7.
In November, authorities accused Yuji Naka and other workers of acquiring shares of the Japanese studio Aiming, just before Square Enix officially announced that said company was working on a mobile title known as Dragon Quest Tact. In December, law enforcement officials accused the creative and Taisuke Sazaki of taking advantage of confidential information to buy shares of Ateam Entertainment, responsible for the Battle Royale Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier.
In case you are not familiar, insider trading is an illegal practice that involves resorting to the buying and selling of shares with an advantage based on access to confidential information. In this case, Yuji Naka bought shares of those studios because he knew they were working on high-profile projects.
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