Sonic creator Yuji Naka has been officially charged with insider trading offences.

According to VGC, Japanese publication NHK reported (in a now deleted article) that the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Naka and former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sasaki at the end of December.

The pair is being accused of using confidential information (namely that Square Enix was working on mobile title Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier with Ateam Entertainment) to invest in Ateam.

Asahi reportedly spent ¥144.7 million ($834,000) on roughly 120,000 shares in Ateam prior to the game’s announcement. He was arrested for insider trading alongside Taisuke Sazaki in early December 2022.

He had already been arrested in November for similar reasons, accused of having bought shares in Japanese developer Aiming ahead of the announcement of Dragon Quest Tact.