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Wednesday July 26, 4:56 AMLEAD: Former Nikkei employee says stock trading was his hobby(Kyodo) _ (EDS: RECASTING, CORRECTING 2ND GRAF)A former Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. employee recently arrested on suspicion of being engaged in insider trading by abusing knowledge of information obtained on the job has said his hobby was stock trading, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. He has also said he placed orders from his home and work over the Internet, sometimes placing 100 or more orders per day, according to the sources. Kazumasa Sasahara, 31, who belonged to the advertising bureau of the economic newspaper's Tokyo head office, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of violating the Securities and Exchange Law. Nihon Keizai Shimbun, widely known as Nikkei, dismissed him later Tuesday. Suspicion over insider trading surfaced in February, leading Nikkei to launch internal investigations. The investigations revealed several instances in which Sasahara obtained information on stock splits from legal notices prior to publication, bought stocks of the companies whose stocks he judged were sure to rise, and sold them as the stock prices rose. Sasahara began stock trading in March 2004 and held accounts in 15 securities firms, the sources said. "My hobby was stock trading," Sasahara reportedly told internal investigators. Sasahara told the investigators that he began illicit stock trading last summer, the sources said, although the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission alleges that he conducted insider trading from December to January. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is aware of such information, but is investigating the matter cautiously because it is still unclear whether he illicitly gained access to the daily's internal network as alleged, the sources said. Sasahara is suspected of illicitly using information on stock-split plans by five listed companies, including a manufacturer of children's clothing, that have placed orders for legal notice with the daily's Osaka head office. The securities watchdog alleges that Sasahara invested 240 million yen to trade a total about 94,000 shares in the five companies between Dec. 13 and Jan. 31 by using accounts held under his own name and under his acquaintances' names, earning him about 30 million yen in profit. |
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