Fuji-Xerox Executives Resign

(Tadahito Yamamoto, chairman of Fuji Xerox, in Tokyo in 2012. Photo credit: The New York Times)

Following the disclosure of accounting problems at its Australia and New Zealand operations, FujiXerox has announced the resignations of four executives.

According to nytimes.com, Tadahito Yamamoto, the chairman; Haruhiko Yoshida, a deputy president; and two directors, Katsuhiko Yanagawa and Jun Takagi will leave their positions effective June 22. However, their replacements still need to be confirmed, this will happen at Fujifilm Holding’s annual shareholder meeting. It appears that Shigetaka Komori, chairman and chief executive of Fujifilm Holdings, plans to take on the dual role of chairman of both the parent company and Fuji Xerox.

Unwilling to acknowledge the decline of the business they oversaw, managers in New Zealand and Australia operations reported inflated numbers in order to meet revenue targets on photocopier leases. Fujifilm instructed a team of lawyers and accounting specialists to investigate the situation. The investigation committee discovered that they overstated a revenue of 37.5 billion yen, or about $340 million in the five years through 2016.

In addition to this, Fujifilm stated that senior executives will be taking a temporary 10-30% pay cut in response to the events.

Kenji Sukeno, president and chief operating officer of Fujifilm Holdings, bowed and apologized at a news conference along with other Fujifilm executives.

“We will strengthen corporate governance at Fuji Xerox,” Mr. Sukeno declared.