Japanese prosecutors have raided the Tokyo headquarters and related premises of Olympus in connection with an accounting scandal that has engulfed the camera and medical equipment maker.
Prosecutors, police and officials from Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission on Wednesday marched into Olympus’s offices as well as the home of Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, former chairman of the company, who was president during part of the time the accounting fraud took place. The Kyodo news agency reported that the homes of other executives had also been raided.
Some legal observers said the early morning raids, which were broadcast on Japanese television, increased the likelihood of criminal charges being brought, but the authorities made no comment about what they were searching for or about what they had found.