Olympus sues 19 current, ex-board members

Scandal-hit Olympus said Tuesday it has lodged lawsuits against 19 current and former executives for a combined $215 million in damages relating to a massive investment loss cover-up. The company said it was demanding 3.61 billion yen ($47 million) from ex-president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who allegedly played a major role in the scandal that rocked global confidence in Japanese corporate governance. The suits, filed on Sunday at the Tokyo District Court, also demand 3.01 billion yen from former auditor Hideo Yamada and 2.81 billion yen from former vice president Hisashi Mori. The three men had been named earlier by a special investigation panel set up by the company as central figures among a small group of top executives that hid at least 134.9 billion yen in losses from bad investments in the 1990s. British former chief executive Michael Woodford, who blew the whistle on the scandal, was not among those being sued. Olympus said the current board members named in the lawsuits, including current President Shuichi Takayama, who is asked to pay 500 million yen, would resign after the next extraordinary shareholders' meeting, scheduled for March or April. In total, the company is seeking 16.54 billion yen from individuals named by the committee of three company-appointed lawyers that was tasked with examining the board's responsibility for the scandal. "The current board members who were judged to have responsibility by the panel and were sued shall resign in ways that will not interfere with the operation of the company, once the extraordinary shareholders' meeting is finished," the company said.