Olympus former executives plead guilty in scandal trial over US$1.7b cover-up

Three former executives of Japanese camera and endoscope maker Olympus Corp pleaded guilty on Tuesday after being charged in connection with a US$1.7 billion accounting cover-up in one of the biggest corporate scandals in Japan.

Prosecutors charged ex-chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, former executive vice-president Hisashi Mori and former auditor Hideo Yamada with inflating the company’s net worth in financial statements for the fiscal years ended March 2007 and 2008, in violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1046749/olympus-former-executives-plead-guilty-scandal-trial-over-us17b