Japan's Livedoor founder Horie pleads not guilty in first trial

Japan's former Internet entrepreneur Takafumi Horie pleaded not guilty of violating the securities laws in the first hearing of his trial at the Tokyo District Court on Monday morning.

The 33-year-old former golden boy of the Internet industry denied manipulating financial figures for Livedoor's business year to Sept. 30, 2004. He is suspected, together with his former executives, of falsifying earning data to inflate stock prices and other securities laws violations.

During pretrial proceedings, Horie denied inflating financial figures for Livedoor's business year to Sept. 30, 2004 and spreading false information on its subsidiary's takeover of a publisher in 2004, according to his defense lawyers.

Horie and several Livedoor executives were arrested in January. He is making his first public appearance since his release on bail in late April.

The court, prosecutors and defense lawyers are to focus on whether a conspiracy existed among Horie and four other former Livedoor executives, who have also been indicted on charges of violating the Securities and Exchange Law, and on whether Horie was aware of any wrongdoing in the two cases.

The court will hold 25 more hearings by Nov. 28 in an attempt to hand down a ruling before March. Eighteen witnesses, including former Livedoor Chief Financial Officer Ryoji Miyauchi and Former Livedoor Representative Director Fumito Kumagai, will be called for hearing during the first two months of the trial, according to reports.

Horie, a university dropout, became well-known in Japan for his bold challenges to Japan's business traditions. The high-profile entrepreneur ran in the House of Representatives election in September 2005 after he accepted Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's request to run against a Liberal Democratic Party rebel, though he failed to win a seat.

Source: Xinhua