Tokyo prosecutors arrest seven former Olympus executives

Feb 16, 2012, 3:50 GMT

Tokyo - Tokyo prosecutors arrested seven former Olympus Corp executives Thursday for alleged involvement in a cover-up of massive investment losses by the company.

Those arrested included ex-chairman and president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and former auditor Hideo Yamada.

They were taken for questioning at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, the Nikkei business daily reported online.

Mori and Yamada are suspected of orchestrating a scheme to hide nearly 100 billion yen (1.29 billion dollars) in investment losses at Olympus, the Nikkei reported, citing those familiar with the investigation.

In December, prosecutors searched company headquarters in Tokyo and Kikukawa's residence on the suspicion that financial reports had been falsified to hide the losses.

In early January, Olympus filed a lawsuit against current and former executives including Kikukawa and president Shuichi Takayama over the cover-up.

Olympus has said that Takayama and five of the other 11 board members would step down after a shareholders meeting to be held in late April.

Shares in Olympus fell 1.3 per cent Wednesday morning.

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