Former GungHo Online Entertainment executive Takanori Kikuchi was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on July 12, 2026 on suspicion of breach of trust for allegedly embezzling about 246 million yen. The arrest follows a criminal complaint filed by the company on October 5, 2025 after an internal investigation identified the former head of the systems division as having created fictitious business orders through a third‑party work‑matching service used for several years. Prosecutors allege that the scheme diverted company funds and resulted in an outflow of approximately 100 million yen to a business partner for work that did not occur. GungHo filed criminal charges on October 5 but chose not to announce the arrest publicly to avoid interfering with the police investigation. In August 2025 the company announced that it had dismissed a former executive employee for embezzlement in July of that year. GungHo formed an internal investigation team with two independent auditors and said it will strengthen compliance education and training to prevent future misconduct. CEO Kazuki Morishita stepped down on February 1, 2025, and CFO Kazuya Sakai assumed the CEO role. GungHo is known for its puzzle game Puzzle & Dragons and for operating the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, as well as titles such as TEPPEN, Ninjala and Disney Pixel RPG.