Olympus subject of SFO prosecution

Japanese firm Olympus and its UK arm Gyrus Group are being prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office in a move reigniting a 1.7bn US dollar (£1.1bn) global accounting scandal.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Sep 2013, 10:15 BST

The camera and medical equipment maker said they had been charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) with allegedly providing “misleading, false or deceptive” material in accounts for Gyrus for the 2009 and 2010 financial years.

Gyrus faces four charges and Olympus faces one charge, with the alleged offences said to have taken place between April 2010 and March 2011, according to the SFO.

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The prosecution will revive a fraud case that came to light two years ago when mammoth investment losses were uncovered dating back more than a decade.

Three former Olympus chiefs were given suspended jail sentences in July after pleading guilty to falsifying accounts to hide 1.7 billion dollars of losses.