Ichimura, a former president and shareholder of Axes Japan, is also a major shareholder of PromoTech Investment, an investment firm set up by Akio Nakagawa. He and Nakagawa were both listed as directors at Genesis Partners (Asia) Limited in Hong Kong, an investment firm incorporated in 2000 with the objective of dealing in securities of "every kind and description", according to company filings.
Tsuyoshi Kikukawa
Kikukawa, 70, was the former Olympus president before he resigned on Oct 26. He has been accused by ousted CEO Michael Woodford of running the company like an emperor in his decade at the top. Current president Shuichi Takayama also blamed him for the scandal. Kikukawa has not appeared in public since he announced Woodford has been fired. On November 24, Kikukawa also resigned as director together with former executive vice president Hisashi Mori. Photo by Reuters/Yuriko Nakao
Shigenori Komuro
A director at Sky Ward Asia Limited, Komuro shared a close relationship with Akio Nakagawa and is a majority shareholder of PromoTech, an investment firm set up by Nakagawa. While Nakagawa was director at Genesis Partners (Asia) Limited, he regularly placed orders for Japanese stocks through Sky Ward.
Oskar Lewnowski
Lewnowski, 80, is the founder of Olympia Capital International, a Bermuda-based hedge fund that managed Olympus's Bermuda investments. Prior to setting up the hedge fund, Lewnowski spent 23 years at Drexel Burnham Lambert, where Nakagawa and Sagawa also worked.
Hisashi Mori
Mori, 54, joined Olympus in 1981 and rose relatively quickly to become executive vice president in April this year. He confessed to current President Shuichi Takayama in early November that the company had been systematically covering up losses for decades. He was fired for his involvement in the scheme but remained as a director of Olympus. On November 24, Mori resigned as director together with former President Tsuyoshi Kikukawa.
Akio Nakagawa
For more than 10 years, Nakagawa worked for Axes America, the New York-based consulting firm that was hired by Olympus in 2006 to scout out acquisition targets. He has emerged as the key figure behind Olympus's decision to agree to pay Axes the world's largest M&A advisory fee ($687 million), according to Thomson Reuters data, for its $2 billion acquisition of British medical device maker Gyrus in 2008. Prior to joining Axes America, Nakagawa worked at PaineWebber together with Hajime Sagawa; both bankers directly handled Olympus's investments in Bermuda then, crafting transactions to help shift losses off the camera-maker's books. Nakagawa's business dealings with Olympus could be traced as far back as the late 1980s when he worked at Drexel Burnham Lambert.
Reuters located Nakagawa at a luxury apartment block in Hong Kong on November 27, where he exploded in anger at finally being tracked down. An examination of company filings and interviews with Nakagawa's former colleagues by Reuters reveal that the banker also had ties with ITX, another controversial Olympus takeover target, though there is no evidence that he was involved in any wrongdoing.
Hajime Sagawa
Sagawa, founder and president of Axes America, the New York-based consulting firm that was hired by Olympus in 2006 to scout out acquisition targets, lives in Florida and remains the central figure over the controversial M&A advisory fee that Olympus paid Axes. Olympus agreed to pay Axes the world's largest M&A advisory fee ($687 million), according to Thomson Reuters data, for it's $2 billion acquisition of British medical device maker Gyrus in 2008. Axes negotiated to be paid the Gyrus fee in both cash and stock, and transferred the rights ot the stock component to an affiliated firm, Cayman Islands-registered AXAM Investments, which in 2010 sold the stock back to Olympus for $620 million. Sagawa held himself out as a director of AXAM Investments, a firm that is now defunct.
Prior to setting up Axes America, Sagawa worked at PaineWebber together with Akio Nakagawa; both bankers directly handled Olympus's investments in Bermuda then, crafting transactions to help shift losses off the camera-maker's books. Sagawa's whereabouts are still unknown.
Shuichi Takayama
Takayama, 61, became president of the endoscope and camera maker after his predecessor Tsuyoshi Kikukawa resigned on October 26. He has blamed Kikukawa, Hirashi Mori and Hideo Yamada for covering up losses at Olympus for decades and said he would consider criminal complaints against them. Takayama announced on November 24 that the current management at Olympus is ready to step down once the firm's recovery was on track. Photo by Reuters/Toru Hanai
Anthony Viscogliosi
Anthony Viscogliosi, 49, founded Viscogliosi Brothers, a merchant banking and venture capital firm that focuses on the musculoskeletal and orthopedics sector, together with two of his brothers.
Michael Woodford
Woodford, 51, was ousted as Olympus's CEO on October 14, barely two weeks after he took the position and approximately six months after he was named president. The Briton has spent 30 years at the firm and was the first foreigner to become CEO at the camera and endoscope maker. The company cited management differences as the key reason for his dismissal but Woodford subsequently accused the board of firing him for probing allegations of improper payments related to a series of acquisitions. On November 24, he returned to Japan for the first time after leaving the country after his firing in October. He met with Japanese authorities probing the scandal and attended a board meeting the next day.
Woodford resigned from Olympus's board of directors on December 1 and called for an urgent shareholder meeting to replaced its disgraced top brass. He said his exit from the board will enable him to lead a clean-out of remaining directors and pave the way for his own return to the top job. Photo by Reuters/Yuriko Nakao
Hideo Yamada
Yamada, 66, was appointed standing internal auditor at Olympus in June this year, meaning he held the post during the period Woodford spend questioning past acquisitions. He offered his resignation after Mori and Kikukawa confessed their involvement in the scandal. On November 24, his resignation was accepted.
Akinobu Yokoo
Akinobu is the elder brother of Nobumasa Yokoo, an ex-Nomura banker who ran a consulting firm, Global Company, that was hired by Olympus in 2000 to scout out new businesses and steered the investment into Altis, Humalabo and News Chef. Between 2000 and 2005, Akinobu served as director and president of ITX, a former technology venture investor that Olympus acquired, and went on to serve as an executive officer at Olympus between 2005 and 2009. He is now president of a parts unit of Japan Airlines and has denied any involvement in the deals brokered by his brother.
Nobumasa Yokoo
Nobumasa ran a consulting firm, Global Company, that was hired by Olympus in 2000 to scout out new businesses and steered investment into Altis, Humalabo and News Chef. He was previously listed as president of News Chef, the microwave cookware maker that was acquired by Olympus between May 2006 and April 2008. A person with the same name and home address acquired a patent for a rice-cooking device for use in microwave ovens in 2005. The patent was transferred to News Inc, a company that shared the same physical address as News Chef. Nobumasa was cited in a 2009 audit report commissioned by Olympus after questions were raised internally about the venture capital fund's investments in News Chef and other companies. The fund was wound up in 2007. Nobumasa is the younger brother of Akinobu Yokoo.
Altis
Olympus acquired Altis, a medical waste recycler, for 28.8 billion yen through a series transactions between May 2006 and April 2008. Olympus did not engage a deal-broker or advisor but instead negotiated directly with the investment funds – Tensho Ltd, Dynamic Dragons II and Neo Strategic Investments – who owned the shares when it acquired Altis. Approximately 68% (19.6 bln yen) of this investment has been written down.
AXAM Investments
AXAM was incorporated in the Cayman Islands in 2007 but have been removed from the local company registry in June 2010 for non-payment of license fees. In September 2008, 176,981,106 preference shares in Gyrus were issued to AXAM after it became entitled to rights previously held by AXES. Hajime Sagawa held himself out to be a director of AXAM according to internal documents.
Axes America
Axes was founded by Hajime Sagawa and incorporated in Delaware and Connecticut in 1997. The company is not listed as "cancelled" in the Connecticut State Registry, with the last report filed in 2001. The company was later incorporated in New York in 2006. In 2006, Olympus hired Axes to scout out acquisition targets and two years later, agreed to Axes the world's largest M&A advisory fee, according to Thomson Reuters data, for its $2 billion purchase of British medical device maker Gyrus. Akio Nakagawa, Sagawa's former co-worker at PaineWebber, set up Axes (Japan) Securities Co, the group's Japanese arm, in 1998.
GC New Vision Ventures
A fund set up by Olympus in March 2000. The company said in its annual report it invested around 30 billion yen into the fund to invest in several venture companies.
An investment firm incorporated in Hong Kong in 2000 with the objective of dealing in securities of "every kind and description", according to company filings. Akio Nakagawa and Takuya Ichimura were both listed as directors of the company according to 2001 company filing. The firm was liquidated in 2010.
Global Company
Global Company, a consulting firm ran by Nobumasa Yokoo, was hired in 2000 by Olympus to scout out new businesses and steered the investment into Altis, Humalabo and News Chef.
Gyrus
Olympus acquired British medical device maker Gyrus for $2.2 billion in 2008. This is one of several Olympus acquisitions that is under scrutiny by authorities for improper accounting.
Humalabo
Olympus acquired Humalabo, an online cosmetics firm, for 23.2 billion yen through a series transactions between September 2007 and April 2008. Olympus did not engage a deal-broker or advisor but instead negotiated directly with the investment funds – Tensho Ltd, Global Target, Neo Strategic Venture – who owned the shares when it acquired Humalabo. Approximately 79% (18.4 bln yen) of this investment has been written down.
ITX
ITX, a former technology venture investor, was purchased by Olympus for about 60 billion yen ($780 million) in a series of transactions between 2000 and 2011. Olympus has written off a third of that investment and still carries 23 billion yen in ITX-related goodwill on its books. The firm previously played a key role in the camera maker's diversification drive, cutting 20 deals for $700 million since 2000. It is now primarily a mobile phone retailer.
News Inc
A predecessor company of News Chef. It shared the same address as News Chef, which was later acquired by Olympus for 21.408 billion yen.
News Chef
Olympus acquired News Chef, a microwaveable cookware maker, for 21.4 billion yen through a series transactions between May 2006 and April 2008. Olympus did not engage a deal-broker or advisor but instead negotiated directly with the investment funds – Class IT Venture, Tensho Ltd, Dynamic Dragons II and New Investments – who owned the shares when it acquired News Chef. Approximately 83% (17.7 bln yen) of this investment has been written down.
Olympia Capital International
Olympia Capital International, a hedge fund based in Bermuda, was founded by Oskar Lewnowski after Drexel Burnham, the U.S. securities firm that he worked at for 23 years before it went bust in 1990.
PaineWebber
PaineWebber brokered Olympus's investments in Bermuda in the 1990s. It is one of several investment banks that crafted techniques to hide investment losses for clients in the mid-1990s, banking sources told Reuters. Hajime Sagawa and Akio Nakagawa, the two central figures in the Olympus accounting scandal, worked at PaineWebber at the same time and directly handled the investments for Olympus. The pair left PaineWebber after it closed its equity business in Tokyo and went on to run their own boutique operation, Axes America. UBS bought PaineWebber in 2000.
PromoTech Investment
PromoTech Investment, another investment firm associated with Akio Nakagawa, is based in the same Hong Kong tower as Sky Ward Asia Limited, a fellow shareholder in ITX alongside Olympus. Sky Ward Asia director, Shigenori Komuro, holds a 30 percent stake in PromoTech and Takuya Ichimura, a former president and shareholder of Axes Japan, holds a 20 percent stake.
Sky Ward Asia
A securities brokerage based in Hong Kong, Sky Ward Asia, was a fellow shareholder in ITX alongside Olympus. Sky Ward first appeared in ITX's financial statements in 2006 when it was the sixth-largest shareholder with a 0.39 percent stake. It showed up again in 2008 with a holding of 0.22 percent. Axes (Japan) Securities Co, the Japanese arm of the Axes group that received the controversial $687 million advisory fee, was listed as Sky Ward's local proxy.
Stryker Corp
Olympus agreed in December 2010 to buy the rights to a biotech remedy intended to help regenerate human bone from medical device maker Stryker Corp for $60 million. Olympus paid a higher-than-normal $5 million transaction fee to Viscogliosi Brothers, its adviser for the transaction, and also agreed to reimburse $4.4 million in expenses. In addition, the camera and endoscope maker extended an 8-year $25 million loan to Viscogliosi Brothers and expects it will need to write off most of that amount.
Viscogliosi Brothers
Viscogliosi Brothers, a New York-based advisory firm, is co-founded by Anthony Viscogliosi and his two brothers. The firm advised Olympus when it agreed to buy most of Stryker Biotech's assets for $60 million in 2008. Olympus paid a higher-than-normal $5 million transaction fee to Viscogliosi Brothers and also agreed to reimburse $4.4 million in expenses. In addition, the camera and endoscope maker extended an 8-year $25 million loan to Viscogliosi Brothers and expects it will need to write off most of that amount.
Endoscope
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine website, an endoscope is defined as a device with a light attached that is used to look inside a body cavity or organ. Olympus dominates the diagnostic endoscope market with a 70 percent global share, while Hoya Corp's Pentax and Fujifilm Holdings Corp roughly split the remainder. The endoscope business is Olympus's crown jewel, generating about 70 billion yen ($900 million) in operating profit with a margin of 19 percent.
Tobashi
"Tobashi", a Japanese term which roughly translates as "to make fly away", refers to a practice that was prevalent in Japan during the 1990s where bankers helped companies temporarily shuffle securities losses off its books. These "tobashi" schemes were eventually outlawed in 2000, at the same time when Japan adopted fair-value accounting rules.