Olympus whistleblower to fight vote

THE former chief executive of electronics group Olympus has said he may seek to reverse the appointment of a new management team at the company.

At a sometimes rowdy extraordinary meeting in a Tokyo hotel, institutional investors and Olympus’ lenders and suppliers voted for the management changes and also approved five years’ worth of restated company accounts.

But the group’s executives refused to answer question as to why Michael Woodford had been sacked for gross misconduct. He has now begun legal action against his former employer in Britain.

Woodford’s dismissal six months ago blew the lid off the accounting scandal which has engulfed the firm.

Olympus will hope the vote draws a line under the issue that has wiped more than $4 billion (£2.4bn) off its market value. But Woodford, who said he feared for his life during the early days of the scandal, said it was a “mockery” for Olympus to claim it was making a fresh start.

“It’s why the world looks on and continues to think this world works in a completely different way, it’s Alice in Wonderland,” he said.