Former president of Olympus and two others plead guilty

Associated Press reports the ex-president pled guilty to securities law violations. Two other senior staff pled guilty as well.

The AP report can be found in the Wall Street Journal article, Ex-President of Japan’s Olympus Pleads Guilty.

The Reuters report can be found in the New York Times article, Guilty Pleas in Trial Over Olympus Scandal.

The three individuals pleading guilty:

Prosecutors charged Mr. Kikukawa; Hisashi Mori, a former executive vice president; and a former auditor, Hideo Yamada, with having inflated the company’s net worth in earnings statements for five financial years ending in March 2011.

The auditor position is something that we don’t have in the United States. It is somewhat comparable to an internal auditor.

The current president entered a guilty plea on behalf of Olympus.

Sentencing is still to take place. Both the Associated Press and Reuters reports indicate the same possible range of punishment. The Wall Street Journal says:

The former executives face up to 10 years in prison, a ¥10 million ($128,000) fine, or both. The company can be penalized with a fine of up to ¥700 million ($9 million).

Based on what I’ve read and seen, I would expect very light jail time, if any. I guess the fines may be towards the top end of those potential amounts, because they’re not that severe for senior executives as individuals or for a large company.