Olympus Corp receives lawsuit from shareholders

On Wednesday, Olympus Corporation revealed it has received a lawsuit filed by Termuro over its loss of shareholder value.

The Japanese medical device maker is suing Olympus, who is known for camera and endoscope development, due to its plunging share price. Terumo has demanded financial restitution for approximately 6.6 billion yen ($84.5 million) in shareholder losses.

Termuro is taking Olympus to court under Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. For failing to disclose its accounting fraud and practices, before signing a contract with the medical equipment firm seven years ago, the company believes it is due 6.6 billion yen in damages.

Olympus has stated it does not anticipate receiving any other similar claims from shareholders.

Terumo holds a stake of 2.5 percent in the ailing company, and has proposed to invest 50 billion yen ($640 million dollars) in Olympus to keep it afloat – vying with Sony and FujiFilm Holdings among others to secure larger stakes in the company.

Share prices have continued to fall over the past year, after an accounting scandal was exposed in 2011. Olympus admitted last year that inappropriate accounting methods were used to conceal investment losses – and the scheme had begun in the 1990s.

In October, Olympus revealed it may have broken U.S. law which prevents corporations from offering bribes to secure business overseas, which further damaged the value of the scandal-ridden company. Travel, meals and entertainment expenses were paid by its U.S. subsidiary to doctors involved in a training program hosted in Brazil – which may result in a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.