The dismissed former Olympus Corp. president, Michael C. Woodford, on Monday criticized a third-party panel set up by the company to probe its coverup of past securities investment losses, after the panel denied reports of organized crime's involvement in the scandal.
Woodford, who was interviewed earlier in the day by a panel member in London, said it is far too early to come to any conclusions until a thorough, forensic investigation is carried out and that the body's "credibility" had been "diminished" by the denial.
The panel said earlier Monday in a statement that "no facts have been uncovered" in relation to claims that underworld syndicates had been involved in and profited from some of Olympus' previous acquisitions.