The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday found a former judge guilty of insider trading by using information obtained during his work on loan at the Financial Services Agency.

Judge Masaru Nomura sentenced Soichiro Sato, 32, the former judge, to two years in prison, suspended for four years, criticizing his act as "habitual." In addition, Sato was fined ¥1 million ($6,600) and ordered to pay an additional ¥10.2 million in penalty.

The defendant "damaged the fairness and soundness of the market as well as the trust of investors" by abusing his position in charge of examining documents on companies planning tender offers, Nomura said.

"His criminal responsibility is heavy" as he damaged the credibility of the agency's system supervising corporate tender offers, the judge continued.

The defendant side said that the additional penalty, set at the same level as the value of shares he sold in the insider trading, should be ¥3.9 million, the same as the total profits he earned.

The judge rejected this, saying that any further purchase funded with money earned from the fraudulent sales must be prevented.

Meanwhile, the judge suspended the sentence as Sato admitted to the allegations and expressed remorse during the trial.

According to the ruling, Sato bought shares in 10 companies for ¥9.52 million in total between April 17 and Sept. 5 last year, based on undisclosed information about tender offers.