Sonic creator Yuji Naka along with former Square Enix staff Taisuke Sasaki have both been formally indicted for alleged insider trading following their arrest last month.
Reported by NHK (via VGC), the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office has charged the two former Square Enix employees for allegedly purchasing shares worth more than 100 million yen each based on inside information that was not made public.
The charges relate to confidential information regarding Square Enix's plans to make mobile title Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier with developer ATeam Entertainment. The company's plans to develop the Final Fantasy spin-off were not yet announced at the time.
Yuji Naka, who is known for creating Sonic the Hedgehog, has been indicted as he allegedly used the information to buy ¥144.7 million yen ($834,000) of Square Enix shares in the knowledge that the stock's value would rise following a public announcement of the news. Sasaki has also been charged for purchasing shares (¥105 million yen's worth) with the alleged inside information.
It is not the only scheme that Naka is alleged to be involved in since the Sonic creator is also said to be involved in insider trading regarding mobile title Dragon Quest Tact. Developed by Aiming it's alleged that Naka bought around ¥2.8 million yen's-worth of shares in the developer before the information that the title was in development was announced to the public. Naka was working for Square Enix at the time as he was involved in developing Balan Wonderworld.
Around the first arrest, Square Enix said it would help the authorities with the investigation. "We have been fully cooperating with requests from the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission," it said.
"We deeply regret the great concern this has caused to all concerned. We have dealt with this incident strictly, including internal disciplinary actions taken against the suspected employees."
It is as yet unknown when Yuji Naka and Taisuke Sasaki will stand trial.