Olympus shareholders have filed suit against the company in a Tokyo court seeking ¥19.1 billion in compensation over an accounting fraud that was one of corporate Japan’s biggest scandals.

The camera- and medical- equipment maker said yesterday that 48 institutional investors and pension funds, mostly foreign investors and pension funds – including the Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois and Pioneer Asset Management in Luxembourg – had filed the suit.

The news emerged at a quarterly earnings briefing at which Olympus lifted its net profit forecast to ¥8bn from ¥7bn.

The company and three former executives pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court in September to charges related to the scandal, which forced Olympus to restate several years of earnings. – (Reuters)