It has been reported that Hisao Tanaka, chief executive of Toshiba is to resign after the firm announced it had exaggerated its profits for the last six years by 151. 8 billion yen (£780 million).
Vice chairman Norio Sasaki is also resigning, as chairman Masashi Muromachi takes over.
In a statement, Toshiba said: "It has been revealed that there has been inappropriate accounting going on for a long time, and we deeply apologise for causing this serious trouble for shareholders and other stakeholders," adding "Because of this Hisao Tanaka, our company president, and Norio Sasaki, our company's vice chairman... will resign today."
The scandal surfaced when securities regulators discovered a problem when checking through the company’s balance sheet this year, which means that Toshiba will have to reaffirm its profits between April 2008 – March 2014.
The report stated: "Within Toshiba, there was a corporate culture in which one could not go against the wishes of superiors. Therefore, when top management presented 'challenges', division presidents, line managers and employees below them continually carried out inappropriate accounting practices to meet targets in line with the wishes of their superiors."
