Toshiba shareholders sue ex-management in Japan's Osaka
Xinhua, December 15, 2015 Adjust font size:
A group of Toshiba Corp. shareholders from western Japan sued the company and five of its former executives here on Monday, seeking 173 million yen (1.43 million U.S. dollars) in damages for losses incurred after the company's stock price plunged over its accounting scandal.
About 45 shareholders from 12 prefectures in western Japan filed the lawsuit with Osaka District Court on Monday, saying they would not have bought the company shares had they known about the fraudulent accounting spanning nearly seven years.
This is the second group lawsuit after the one filed with Tokyo District Court last week, and a third one will be filed with the Fukuoka local court on Dec. 21, according to lawyers of the plaintiffs.
The legal team also said it had received consultation requests from nearly 1,000 Toshiba Corp. shareholders, and a second round of such lawsuits with over 80 shareholders as plaintiffs would be filed next year.
Toshiba stock price fell sharply since early April when the company's accounting problems were first disclosed. The company admitted in September that it had overstated its profits by nearly 225 billion yen over the past seven years.
The case is one of Japan's biggest corporate scandals in years. Endite