Olympus former head Kikukawa arrested over accounting fraud

TOKYO - Three former executives at Olympus Corp, including former chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, and four others were arrested for a suspected violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

The Japanese camera maker is facing shareholder lawsuits and may be subject to further criminal investigation after admitting to a 13-year cover-up. The company restated past securities reports and took a $1.3 billion reduction in net assets in December.

Olympus' Tokyo headquarters and its affiliated offices were raided on Dec 21 by prosecutors after the company said in November that Kikukawa and two other executives colluded to hide losses from securities investments from the 1990s.