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Olympus Launders Their Mistakes

Tuesday Nov 8, 2011

Olympus Imaging apparently made some bad bets on investments in the 1990s. They lost money. Now the truth is beginning to surface. While the linked article does not explicitly say so, apparently Olympus laundered the money through consultant fees to hide the loss. I assume the consultant channeled the money to cover the loss after of course taking out a 'handling fee.'  Olympus has already written off the value of some of its supposed acquisitions. 

The Internal Auditor has resigned, the fired CEO is having a field day being proven right and the shares of the company have dropped dramatically in value. That puts the company in play. The Officials are subject to various criminal penalties for the cover up. 

It is always better to come clean and admit mistakes. As Watergate proved the cover up can be worse than the crime. 

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3 responses to “Olympus Launders Their Mistakes”

  1. Javier Carvajal Avatar
    Javier Carvajal

    Olympus is one of many companies that have done this. The U.S. is not alone when it comes to scandels. The Board and CEO’s are a lot to blame for things like this. They should be held accountable BUT at the same time it is also the share holders fault. They elected the board. Now Olympus is falling and the UK is thinking they made a bad deal.

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  2. Phillip Garcia Avatar
    Phillip Garcia

    Why do these companies hide their financial problems! Olympus had to have smart people who knows how to balances the accounting books correctly and report any problems to CEO, but I guess it was the CEO who did not have the ethical training to the right thing financially and admit the company had big financial problems. Because of this, I believe that all college students who get a business degree in accounting, finance, or any other business degree that leads them to management, must take at least 4 or more courses in business ethics before they graduate from college. In addition, the world business should create some type of Certification concerning Ethics only for all the business degrees.

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  3. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    AS always an interesting post form Phil
    But I have some questions
    Should the ethics classes be separate from the regular business classes? Or should ethics be integrated into each business class? Is ethical principle somehow separate from the business decision?
    Hmm, can ethics be taught?
    You suggest four ethics classes for business majors. Would it be a lower number for arts and science majors?
    Why four, are business majors so hard headed they cannot get it the first time?
    There are six courses required for a major course of study, hmm, ethics needs to be 2/3 of that requirement?
    I wish you were taking my graduate ethics class this spring, if you would like to join us saturday mornings I would very much like to have you attend!

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