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Olympus' ex-CEO confident in probe
Source: Agencies |
November 25, 2011, Friday
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FORMER Olympus CEO Michael Woodford said yesterday he was confident Japanese authorities would fully investigate an accounting scandal engulfing the disgraced camera maker, as he prepared for a showdown with the directors who sacked him.
"It's clear they're going to investigate, they're not going to leave any part of this story untold and they're going to turn all the stones over," the 51-year-old Briton told reporters after meeting police, prosecutors and securities watchdog officials.
"The talks have passed all my expectations ... and it's very evident to me they are going to investigate this whole issue without bias and thoroughly, and that will include following the money flows in relation to all the transactions.
"I'm immensely encouraged. I've been treated with great courtesy and I'm much more confident than I thought I would be with what I've been told."
Woodford returned to Tokyo on Wednesday for the first time since he fled the country after being fired as CEO on October 14, having blown the whistle on some large and dubious payments related to acquisitions by the company.
He will attend a board meeting tomorrow.
"I just hope they understand the game is up and do the decent thing, stop damaging the company,'' he said. ''Don't look for self-interest, look for the 45,000 people. Have some shame, have some dignity, that's what I want to tell them."
Olympus Corp, which at first denied any wrongdoing, admitted this month it used M&A payments to help hide losses on securities investments for two decades, blaming its former president and chairman, former vice president and an internal auditor.
But where the money trail leads is a mystery, fanning speculation of links between "yakuza" gangsters and the murky payments Olympus made for its acquisitions.
"It's clear they're going to investigate, they're not going to leave any part of this story untold and they're going to turn all the stones over," the 51-year-old Briton told reporters after meeting police, prosecutors and securities watchdog officials.
"The talks have passed all my expectations ... and it's very evident to me they are going to investigate this whole issue without bias and thoroughly, and that will include following the money flows in relation to all the transactions.
"I'm immensely encouraged. I've been treated with great courtesy and I'm much more confident than I thought I would be with what I've been told."
Woodford returned to Tokyo on Wednesday for the first time since he fled the country after being fired as CEO on October 14, having blown the whistle on some large and dubious payments related to acquisitions by the company.
He will attend a board meeting tomorrow.
"I just hope they understand the game is up and do the decent thing, stop damaging the company,'' he said. ''Don't look for self-interest, look for the 45,000 people. Have some shame, have some dignity, that's what I want to tell them."
Olympus Corp, which at first denied any wrongdoing, admitted this month it used M&A payments to help hide losses on securities investments for two decades, blaming its former president and chairman, former vice president and an internal auditor.
But where the money trail leads is a mystery, fanning speculation of links between "yakuza" gangsters and the murky payments Olympus made for its acquisitions.
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