A high-profile fund manager was found guilty of insider trading yesterday and sentenced to two years in prison in a case that underlines Japan's struggles to regulate takeovers and startups.
Presiding Judge Kunihiko Koma also hit Yoshiaki Murakami, former head of MAC Asset Management, with record fines and penalties totaling ¥1.4 billion (US$11.5 million).
Koma said Murakami's crime was an abuse of his profession as fund manager, deserving a prison term that is relatively rare here for white-collar crimes.
In a ruling read out for about two hours, Koma said Murakami made dubious money by influencing a startup founder to buy shares in radio broadcaster Nippon Broadcasting, scheming to make money over a takeover attempt that was certain to follow.
Murakami, 47, who had pleaded innocent, appealed the verdict within an hour of the session's closing, the Tokyo District Court said.
The trial marked a downfall for a bureaucrat-turned-entrepreneur who had at one point been viewed as a new breed of aggressive investor that is openly defiant toward more old-fashioned business practices.
Japan is still grappling with policing takeovers, and companies have recently started to come up with takeover defense measures. Rules for takeovers and stock trading aren't as clearly defined in a corporate culture that was dominated by networking among established companies. Japan has long tended to frown upon get-rich-quick schemes, fostering docile conformist salarymen.
Prosecutors had demanded three years in prison and a fine of more than ¥1 billion, alleging Murakami violated securities laws in buying up a large stake in Nippon Broadcasting Systems Inc after he knew startup Livedoor Co was planning to take over the radio broadcaster.
Murakami has acknowledged talking with Livedoor founder and chief executive Takafumi Horie, who was found guilty of securities laws violations in a separate trial. But Murakami denied he bought Nippon Broadcasting shares with knowledge of Livedoor's intentions, and has argued he never thought Livedoor was serious about a takeover.
Horie, who was also a media idol before his arrest last year, was convicted in March of securities laws violations in falsifying earnings and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison -- in what some saw as unusually harsh punishment here for a white-collar crime. He has asserted his innocence and is appealing the verdict.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS