TOKYO--Olympus Corp. (7733.TO) said Wednesday that the U.K.'s
Serious Fraud Office has decided to bring a prosecution against the
company and its U.K.-based medical equipment unit Gyrus Group PLC
in connection with its $1.5 billion accounting scandal.
The Japanese company, the world's top supplier of endoscopes,
said it and Gyrus had on Tuesday received demands to appear before
the authorities. It said the impact on its earnings of the latest
case remains unclear.
The charges against Olympus and Gyrus "allege that certain
representations made to the auditors of Gyrus in the documents
related to Gyrus's financial accounts for the fiscal years 2009 and
2010 were misleading, false or deceptive," Olympus said in a press
release.
The SFO decided to bring the case alleging a breach of section
501 of the U.K. Companies Act of 2006, after completing an
investigation into the matter. Olympus said it cooperated fully
with the investigation.
Olympus was involved in one of Japan's biggest ever corporate
scandals when company officials admitted that they covered up $1.5
billion in investment losses. The admissions came to light after
the dismissal of Chief Executive Michael Woodford in October
2011.
Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at hiroyuki.kachi@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires