THE FORMER president of Olympus has returned to Japan for the first time since his dismissal last month led to the public disclosure of a huge accounting fraud at the camera and medical equipment maker.
Michael Woodford, who was dismissed as chief executive after questioning executives about more than $1 billion (€749 million) in excessive acquisition-related payments, arrived in Tokyo yesterday for meetings with the police, the prosecutors and financial regulators.
He will also attend an Olympus board meeting where he will, for the first time since his dismissal, meet his fellow directors who unanimously fired him.
Mr Woodford’s return to Tokyo comes amid a widening investigation into controversial payments made by Olympus, which have raised serious questions about its corporate governance and concerns about the possible involvement of organised crime groups.
The former Olympus president had pressed executives to explain why the company paid $687 million in fees to an obscure advisory firm in connection with its $2.1 billion acquisition of Gyrus, and to whom the money actually went.
Mr Woodford also questioned the acquisition of three Japanese companies, the value of which Olympus wrote down by three-quarters shortly after buying them.
Olympus admitted earlier this month that it had used the controversial payments to cover up past securities investment losses dating as far back as the 1990s.
The company identified former chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, Hisashi Mori, former deputy president, and Hideo Yamada, company auditor, as having been involved in the cover-up. Mr Mori was dismissed by Olympus but remains as a director, together with Mr Kikukawa and Mr Yamada, who has offered to resign.
Mr Woodford left Japan immediately after he was dismissed by the board on October 14th, out of concern for his personal safety
The accounting scandal has triggered a 58 per cent fall in Olympus’s share price. Olympus has until December 14th to submit its half-year results report, which was delayed due to the scandal, or face delisting from the stock exchange.
Southeastern Asset Management, which has a 5 per cent stake in Olympus, is calling for Mr Kikukawa and Mr Yamada to resign as directors.
