Olympus Corp. (TYO:7733) admitted to channeling money through investment funds to hide losses in the wake of a growing scandal sparked by former CEO Michael Woodford. The Tokyo-based technology giant revealed that nearly $1.5 billion in possibly illegal payments were used to conceal heavy losses on investments over the last two decades. Olympus head Shuichi Takayama, its third president in less than a month, pointed the blame at three former executives: chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who took over the corner office for a couple of weeks in between Woodford's termination and the appointment of new president Shuichi Takayama; executive vice president Hisashi Mori, who was fired today; and internal auditor Hideo Yamada, who has tendered his resignation.
