The former Square Enix and Sega developer Yuji Naka has now been sentenced to two years and six months in prison, with a probation period of four years. He’s also been fined two million and 170 million yen.
Website and social media account ‘SEGAbits’ shared a bit more detail about this based on a translation of a Yahoo Japan news story – explaining how Naka has been given “4 years suspension” for showing “remorse”. He will have to comply with certain rules from the court to avoid jail time and must pay both fines.
If you missed the previous updates, Naka was accused alongside two other former Square Enix employees of purchasing shares in developers ‘Aiming’ and ‘Ateam‘ ahead of the launch of Dragon Quest Tact and Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, and then selling stock when the games were publically announced.
As highlighted on social media, Tokyo’s District Court sentenced Naka under violation of Japan’s “Financial Instruments and Exchange Act”. He was previously arrested twice for insider trading. The former Square Enix employees Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki were also arrested at the time.
Naka’s most recent release was the troubled Square Enix title Balan Wonderworld. After falling out with the company, former Sonic team members and co-creator Naoto Ohshima, he took up the past time of mobile game development.