Olympus, U.K. Unit Face Prosecution

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 [e-mail]

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