Takafumi Horie, the unconventional 34-year-old Japanese business tycoon whose meteoric rise was suddenly ended by a corruption scandal, has been jailed for securities fraud in Tokyo.
Horie was found guilty of deliberately manipulating the profits of his Livedoor company to boost its share price.
Defence lawyers had maintained there was insufficient evidence to show his link to the money laundering and securities charges, despite the fact that four of his colleagues on the Livedoor board had already admitted their guilt.
Horie serve two and a half years in jail for the crime but has strenuously maintained his innocence in the six-month long trial which has gripped Japanese media since last September.
An appeal against the verdict is planned, continuing Horie's refusal to lie down. His behaviour before and during the recent trial has consistently challenged the conservative, conventional elites of Japanese business culture
Horie's arrest in January 2006 led to a brief collapse in the south-east Asian market as concern about the true spread of the corruption led to a massive outflow of capital.
The Tokyo stock market had to cease all trading before its scheduled closing time because of the crisis.
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