Firm mounts fightback after forensic accountants uncover scandal

Shareholders at global camera giant, Olympus, have voted in a new board after forensic accountants in Japan uncovered a one billion pound scandal involving the hiding of losses going back over twenty years.

The company had nominated new members to the board after all its previous team quit in the wake of the scandal, which came to light last October and knocked almost fifty per cent off the company’s value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

However, former chief executive Michael Woodford, who broke news of the scandal at the firm, has threatened to have the results of the vote at the extraordinary general meeting annulled. 

He said “Today is the day the new Olympus is supposed to start. But, he added: ‘It’s Alice in Wonderland.’

The company still faces investigation by the Japanese authorities and several former members of the management, possible criminal charges.

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