Sonic creator Yuji Naka arrested in Japan over financial scandal

According to the Fuji News Network newspaper, one of the main creators of Sonic, Yuji Naka, nicknamed the father of the blue hedgehog, was arrested in Japan in a scandal involving the purchase of shares after an inside information.

The creator’s arrest comes shortly after two other former Square Enix employees (Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki) were also arrested during the same investigation. The three are accused of having had access to privileged information during the time they worked at Square Enix. The company worked in collaboration with the Aiming studio for the development of ‘Dragon Quest Tact’.

Naka, Taisuke and Fumiaki would have acquired shares in Aiming, before the release of the game. According to the Japanese press, Yuji Naka would have bought 10 thousand shares of Aiming for 2.8 million yen (about 20 thousand dollars). The designer worked at Square Enix between 2018 and 2021 on the development of the game ‘Balan Wonderworld’.

Taisuke and Fumiaki are accused of acquiring shares in the company worth 47 million yen (about $336,000). The stock purchase reportedly took place between December 2019 and February 2020, shortly before the game launched.

Square Enix has confirmed information about the investigation of former employees accused of possessing inside information and said it is cooperating with authorities. “Some media have reported that former Square Enix employees are being investigated for alleged insider trading. As the investigation by the Tokyo District Attorney’s Office is ongoing, we will continue to cooperate fully with investigation,” the company said of the matter.

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