Olympus Ex-CEO: Asking Japan SESC To Look Into Firm's Acquisitions

The British former chief executive of Olympus Corp. (7733.TO) said Thursday that he has sent a letter and other documents to Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, asking the securities watchdog to look into the Japanese company's acquisitions in recent years.

Michael Woodford, who was fired Friday from all executive positions, said that the letter, which he sent from London via a courier service, should reach the SESC sometime Friday.

While Olympus said Woodford was removed due to "major differences in management style," Woodford said that he was fired after raising questions about payments relating to acquisitions made before he joined the Olympus board. The acquisitions in question involve three small Japanese companies taken over between 2006 and 2008 as well as U.K. medical equipment firm Gyrus Group in 2008.

According to Woodford, enclosed with the letter to the SESC are documents relating to the acquisitions, including a report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers that looked into payments Olympus made to its financial adviser for the Gyrus deal.

"It's up to the SESC to decide what to do with the documents," Woodford said.

On Monday, Woodford met with the U.K. Serious Fraud Office and handed over documents related to the Gyrus deal. The SFO investigates and prosecutes complex fraud cases.

An Olympus spokesman said: "At this point, it is impossible for us to confirm whether he has contacted (the SESC and SFO), so we are unable to comment."

-By Juro Osawa, Dow Jones Newswires; 813 6269 2794; [e-mail]