Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco responds after ex-employee arrested for embezzling nearly $4 million by selling a whopping 4,400 mobile devices over 7 years

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(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Elden Ring Melina

An ex-employee ofElden RingpublisherBandai Namcohas been arrested for embezzling a shocking ¥600 million over the course of seven years - all from selling 4,400 mobile devices.

Without Bandai Namco’s explicit permission, the ex-employee then sold all of these 4,400 mobile devices over the course of the seven years, and netted around ¥600 million (just under $4 million) as a result. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that Bandai Namco had filed civil proceedings in a company court last year in January 2023, seeking ¥600 million in damages.

Later that same year in November, a judgment was finalized in favor of Bandai Namco, meaning the company had effectively won the civil proceedings against its former employee. Bandai Namco then filed a formal complaint against the former employee to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, which is what has lead to the individual’s arrest yesterday.

“We will implement measures (review and improve our business processes, strengthen our internal control systems, etc.) in cooperation with outside experts to prevent recurrence of such an incident, and work together as a group to prevent recurrence,” Bandai Namco president Kawaguchi adds further along in the statement.

The matter isn’t going to impact Bandai Namco’s consolidated earnings report for the current fiscal year ending March 2025. Bandai Namco’s president writes that the matter will have an “immaterial” impact on the company’s next fiscal earnings report, when it’s eventually published next year.

Ahead of Elden Ring’s new DLC, Bandai is giving away a 10-foot “life size” statue of a Shadow of the Erdtree boss.

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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”

Nemesis board game models and tokens laid out on a board

1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”

1

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3

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2

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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”

3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”

3

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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”

4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”

4

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2

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3

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4

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5

Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”

Contents