Olympus: Have Not Been Contacted By FBI

Olympus Corp. (7733.TO) said Friday it has not been contacted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, after the company's former chief executive said he had been asked to meet the FBI to discuss allegedly exorbitant payments Olympus made in relation to four past acquisitions.

"Certain media reports said (Olympus) had been contacted by the FBI, but that is not something we can confirm at the present time," the maker of cameras and optical equipment said in a statement.

On Thursday, Olympus's new president, Shuichi Takayama, repeated claims he had made at a conference to announce his appointment the night before, saying payments related to four deals were appropriate and nothing illegal had happened.

Takayama was tapped Wednesday after Olympus Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa stepped down, following a bitter board battle with Olympus's former chief executive, Michael Woodford. Woodford was sacked two weeks ago after raising concerns about the four deals, sending Olympus shares plummeting more than 50%.

On Wednesday, Woodford said he had been asked to meet with the FBI in New York.

A senior executive at the Tokyo Stock Exchange said Thursday that Olympus shares could be subject to a review for possible delisting if the company was found to be involved in "serious falsification of information."

-By Andrew Joyce, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone], [e-mail]