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Japanese officials are investigating whether Olympus worked with organised crime syndicates to hide billions of dollars in past investment losses, and then paid them excessive sums for their services, reports The New York Times.

According to a copy of a memo obtained by the Times, Olympus paid a total of ¥481 billion, or $6.25 billion, through questionable acquisition payments, investments and advisory fees from 2000 to 2009. But only ¥105 billion has been written down or otherwise accounted for in its financial statements. That leaves ¥376 billion, or $4.9 billion, unaccounted for, according to the memo.

Investigators believe that over half that amount has been channeled to organised crime syndicates, including the country’s largest, the Yamaguchi Gumi.

An association with organised crime could prompt a delisting of Olympus shares from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, under the exchange’s rules, says the New York Times.

The scandal broke in October after Olympus fired its chief executive, Michael C. Woodford, who said he was dismissed after confronting the company’s chairman and board with his questions over some of the payments.

Woodford will meet with Japanese investigators and regulators on 1 December in his first trip to Tokyo since Olympus fired him on 14 October.

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