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.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS