Tying him to an insider trading case surrounding a new installment of Dragon Quest, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Yuji Naka, 57, sometime Friday morning according to Fuji News Network.
A special investigations unit is alleging Naka is among three ex-Square Enix employees who learned the Dragon Quest Tact mobile game was being jointly developed by Square Enix and Aiming. Naka reportedly bought 10,000 shares in Aiming (2.8 million yen, roughly $20,000 USD) before the mobile game was publicly announced on February 5th, 2020. Investigators list the co-conspirators as former Square Enix employees Taisuke Sazaki, who they said initially obtained the information, and Fumiaki Suzuki. The two collectively purchased 162,000 shares (47.2 million yen, roughly $337,000 USD). All three men are arrested. As Fuji News Network reports, it is not clear if the three men sold their shares.
Naka worked with Square Enix to produce Balan Wonderworld, said to be a spiritual successor to NiGHTS into Dreams, a Sega Saturn classic. Balan Wonderworld was panned by critics after its release.
The Sonic the Hedgehog creator is known for his frequent activity on social media. As of this writing, his last Twitter post was published on November 16th. Naka does not appear to have publicly discussed his arrest, or the insider trading investigation.
Naka does not appear to have a significant criminal history. The Japanese criminal justice system does allow arrested suspects to bail out of jail, according to the Ministry of Justice, though a judge can deny bail if there are concerns the suspect may destroy evidence. Japanese news reports have yet to show when Naka will appear in court, or if bail is allowed.
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