Foreign Investors Sue Toshiba Over Accounting Scandal

A group of investors, mostly foreign institutions, are suing Toshiba in a Tokyo court for 16.7 billion yen ($162.3 million) in damages, over a $1.3 billion accounting scandal uncovered last year. Reuters adds: Toshiba said in a statement on Thursday that the 45 unnamed shareholders were seeking compensation for damages caused by its "inappropriate accounting". It will take an unspecified provision to cover any eventual payout, Toshiba said. The laptops-to-nuclear conglomerate has been sued by 15 groups and individuals since it first admitted to reporting inflated profits going back to 2008, including Japan's public pension fund. GPIF, the world's biggest pension fund, has been shifting into shares to attempt to boost returns. Thursday's case, however, is the largest - the remaining suits are seeking a combined 15.3 billion yen in compensation. Toshiba is still overcoming the reputational and share price hit of an investigation last year that found widespread accounting errors throughout its sprawling business, blaming a corporate culture in which employees found it difficult to question their superiors.

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