Yuji Naka, one of the creators of the Sonic character, received a suspended sentence and has to pay a $ 1.2 million fine.
Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka was sentenced to 30 months in prison, but will be temporarily spared thanks to a four-year suspension of that sentence. Naka was also fined approximately $1.2 million for insider trading charges.
Sonic character creator Yuji Naka gets suspended sentence
Naka, who originally ran Balan Wonderworld before being fired from the project last year, was first arrested in November 2022 for his involvement in an insider trading scheme involving two former Square Enix employees. Thanks to information provided to Naka, the former head of Sonic Team has acquired a stake in Aiming, a Japanese game developer that is about to announce an upcoming Dragon Quest game.
He was also arrested a second time in December 2022 for another insider trading incident involving information about Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. Last March, Naka pleaded guilty to the charges, admitting “there is no doubt” that he was engaging in insider trading activities he was accused of.
While the suspended sentence means he won’t be behind bars for the time being, a total fine of 173 million yen (about $1.2 million) will certainly serve as an alternative form of punishment.