TOKYO (AP) ? An independent panel probing an accounting scandal at Olympus Corp. said Tuesday it found an elaborate scheme to cover up investment losses through exorbitant fees and expensive acquisitions.
The panel also credited the company's ex-CEO, Michael Woodford, for bringing the wrongdoing to light. Woodford, a British national, was fired in October after raising questions about the dubious transactions that have evolved into one of Japan's biggest corporate fiascos.
The panel, led by former Supreme Court judge Tatsuo Kainaka, found that as of 2003, Olympus had racked up 117.7 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in investment losses dating back years.
It said it also found no involvement of "anti-social groups," a reference to the Japanese mafia, as some news reports have speculated.
Olympus initially denied any wrongdoing, but later acknowledged that it had used inflated advisory fees and other acquisitions to hide bookkeeping losses from past investments gone bad.
The panel urged Olympus to beef up its corporate governance to prevent future problems.
It stressed that its findings, compiled in a 24-page document released at a press conference Tuesday, were based on voluntary hearings and analysis of company computers, but that it was not authorized to pursue a criminal investigation.
Olympus risks being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange if it doesn't rectify past filings with regulators by reporting revised earnings by Dec. 14.
The company's bookkeeping is now under investigation in Japan, the U.S. and Great Britain. Woodford has met with authorities in all three countries.
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