The funeral was held Sunday for a former brokerage executive linked with takeover deals by Livedoor Co. who committed suicide last week in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture.

Hideaki Noguchi, 38, vice president of H.S. Securities Co., killed himself in a hotel Wednesday after allegations surfaced that one of Livedoor's subsidiaries was involved in illegal corporate practices in connection with a takeover of a publisher in 2004.

His death came two days after investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission raided Livedoor's head office and Livedoor President Takafumi Horie's home in Tokyo.

Noguchi allegedly mapped out dubious corporate buyout plans through stock swaps -- one of the focal points of the investigation -- with Livedoor Chief Financial Officer Ryoji Miyauchi.

Miyauchi and other Livedoor executives have reportedly said during questioning by prosecutors that Livedoor merely carried out plans devised chiefly by Noguchi, investigative sources said.

H.S. Securities was among the companies searched last week. The Tokyo-based firm is led by Hideo Sawada, founder of travel agency H.I.S. Co.

Noguchi joined Livedoor's predecessor company in 2000 and served as a board member of Livedoor Finance Co., after working for Kokusai Securities Co., one of the predecessors of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co.

He joined H.S. Securities in June 2002 and became vice president last June after heading up its investment planning department.

Noguchi once served as president of H.S. Investment, the parent firm of Japan M&A Management Co., the leader of an investment union which sold Livedoor its shareholdings in a matchmaking service provider and a moneylender.