Olympus may have organised crime link

Earlier this month the company admitted that it had deferred losses since the 1990's through fees paid to advisors and the acquisition of several companies. Those deals included the acquisition of U.K. medical-technology firm Gyrus Group PLC and three small Japanese firms at expensive prices. The New York Times have now obtained a copy of memo distributed to Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission by invesitgators, in which officials say they are investigating whether Olympus payed organised crime units to hide investment losses. The New York Times said the memo suggested Olympus had paid a total of 481 billion yen ($6.25 billion) through questionable acquisition payments, investments and advisory fees stretching between 2000 and 2009, but only 105 billion yen ($1.36 billion) had been booked in its financial statements. Investigators believe over half of that sum was channeled to organized crime syndicates, according to the memo. Olympus has declined to comment on the report.