Andre Yoskowitz
22 Jan 2012 17:58
30 consumer affairs lawyers have asked Olympus shareholders to sue the company for damages after it was revealed last year that former execs covered up billions in investment losses fraudulently.
The disgraced Japanese camera company hid up to $1.7 billion in losses through fraudulent accounting over the past decade. Although there was rumors of Yakuza ties, the panel investigating has not found sufficient proof.
In an effort to hide losses from poor investments, Olympus went through a huge series of mergers and acquisitions and then inflated the administration fees paid out for the acquisition to companies that did not exist or were owned by Olympus.
The legal team is also considering action against the company's auditing firms, which signed off on the books each year despite noticeable red flags.