Yoshiaki Murakami, founder of Japan's best-known investment fund, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of insider trading involving shares of Nippon Broadcasting System Inc.
"I am convinced I am not guilty," said Murakami, 47, at the start of his Tokyo District Court trial. "I have dignity and pride that I am a law-abiding person, and for that reason, I will reveal the truth and wait for the court to apply a righteous judgment in terms of the accuracy of its interpretation and application of the law."
The bureaucrat-turned-financier was arrested and charged in June for insider trading linked to his fund's purchase of the radio broadcaster's shares.