olympusscandal

The Olympus Accounting Scandal is Being Made Into a TV Series

In 2011, Olympus was rocked by a financial scandal after it fired its British CEO who had raised questions about over $1 billion in questionable "acquisitions" between 2006 and 2008. As the truth was uncovered, seven Olympus officials were arrested for fraud and the former CEO settled a lawsuit for $15.5 million. Now the famous camera brand's scandal is being made into a TV series.

Olympus Still Dealing with a Plethora of Lawsuits in Wake of Accounting Scandal

Some would say that the Olympus accounting scandal is officially over, insofar as jail sentences (or, rather, the lack thereof) have been doled out by the Japanese justice system. Even the company's stock has rebounded and is currently sitting about 25% higher than it was before the dive it took when the company's seedy business dealings came to light.

But stocks rebounding and executives getting off almost scott free aside, Olympus' battle against the backlash from the scandal is far from over, as both Japanese and overseas entities continue to pursue legal action.

Olympus Executives Manage to Avoid Jail Time After Committing $1.7 Billion Fraud

The Olympus financial scandal -- you know, the one that was discovered all the way back in October of 2011 -- has been trying to reach a conclusion for some time now. But now that the Japanese justice system has reached a decision, many won't be happy with the end result. Namely: all of the major players in the $1.7 billion scandal have managed to avoid jail time entirely, at least for now.

Ex-Olympus Chief Faces Five Years in Jail For His Role in $1.7 Billion Fraud

Former Olympus president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa may soon spend up to five years of his life in prison for his role in Olympus' massive financial scandal that rocked corporate Japan back in 2011. Prosecutors allege that Kikukawa orchestrated a coverup of $1.7 billion in company losses, one of the biggest frauds in Japanese history and the country's equivalent of America's Enron scandal.

FBI Snags Banker in the US in Connection with the Olympus Accounting Scandal

Well, if you thought the drawn-out drama of the notorious Olympus accounting scandal was over -- we definitely did -- you were wrong. It seems that white collar criminals not included in the original seven people arrested in the case shouldn't take the yacht out of the marina just yet (or maybe they should), because, as former bank executive Chan Ming Fon learned yesterday, the FBI is still looking for you.

Olympus ex-CEO-Turned-Whistleblower Writes a Book About the Scandal

It was almost exactly one year ago that Olympus fired then-CEO Michael Woodford and started a chain of events that culminated in one of the largest financial scandals in Japanese history. Woodford received an incredible amount of international attention for his role in the saga, since he was one of the highest ranking executives ever to turn into a whistleblower.

He may have lost his $8-million-a-year job, but he likely won't ever need another: in addition to settling for a reported $15.5 million over the breakup, Woodford is also cashing in by writing a book that offers his account of what transpired.

Former Olympus Executives Plead Guilty to Carrying Out Massive Financial Fraud

It looks like the Olympus financial scandal is finally coming to an end. It has been nearly a year since it came to light that there were massive cases of fraud and coverups going on in the upper echelons of Olympus management. What started as a CEO's firing quickly spiraled into one of the biggest scandals to ever hit corporate Japan -- the country's equivalent of the US' Enron fiasco.

In the end, a number of the company's top executives were arrested after submitting their resignations. The trials for those former bigwigs are only now starting to get underway. Three of them, including former chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa (pictured above), pleaded guilty today to charges of falsifying accounts and covering up more than $1 billion in losses. The camera company itself also filed a guilty plea.

The Backstory to the Scandal That May Bring Down Olympus

The financial scandal rocking Olympus is one that the company may not survive. The company's stock price plunged another 17% today, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange has informed the company that it will be delisted if it doesn't meet a December 14th deadline for reporting earnings. The New York Times has a great piece on how Olympus got itself into this mess.

Olympus Crisis Deepens: Allegations of Fraud and Plummeting Stock

Update: Olympus has released an official response to the allegations.

Since Olympus abruptly fired CEO Michael Woodford (pictured, on left) four days ago, the company's stock price has fallen from roughly ¥2,480 to its current price of ¥1,417, a 43% drop that wiped out nearly $4 billion in value. As we reported yesterday, Woodford is now asking the UK to investigate the company's financial practices, and is claiming that he was booted when on the verge of exposing fraud.