Ex-Olympus boss exposes financial scandal
The ousted British boss of Japanese camera-maker Olympus, Michael Woodford, is flying to the U.S. to meet with the FBI, after blowing the whistle on a massive financial scandal. CBS News correspondent Lucy Craft has more from Tokyo.
In Tokyo, Michael Woodford has incited the kind of media frenzy usually reserved for rock stars. The whistle-blower and ex-chief of camera company Olympus says he's been unwittingly cast in a corporate drama of deceit and danger befitting a John Grisham novel.
"Mentions of organized crime, boardroom battles, character assassination -- it's just been a surreal few weeks," he said.
Japanese companies have long been criticized for their cozy, insider corporate culture. The Japanese themselves say that change is difficult without something called "gaiatsu," which literally translates as "pressure from foreigners"
Shortly after he took office last summer, the 51-year-old ex-president learned that Olympus -- a leader in complex medical equipment -- for decades covered up losses of at least $1.5 billion through a series of bizarre investments.
"A face cream company," said Woodford. "Olympus is a high-tech company. It makes sophisticated medical products and cameras and microscopes. Why would we want to compete in the cosmetics industry, with no background or knowledge?"
Woodford is among only a handful of foreigners who've run Japanese companies.
"I knew if I went public, it would get attention," he said.
It's also gotten him some vindication. Woodford was fired in October for demanding management come clean about its troubled investments and losses. Since then, three senior executives of Olympus have resigned. The new president at Olympus is apologizing. Shareholders in the U.S. and around the world are demanding Woodford get his old job back and a full-scale investigation of where all that money went.
At stake is not just the fate of the 92-year-old Olympus, but the reputation of corporate Japan itself.
In addition to the FBI, Woodford also meets next week with investigators at the SEC and the Justice Department. There are allegations that organized crime in Japan helped engineer the Olympus cover-up.