Japanese camera firm Olympus is being sued by six banks for fraud, following 2011’s accounting scandal that revealed losses at the firm dating back to the 1990s.

The banks are seeking compensation of 28bn yen ($273m; £164m) over false financial statements which were made from 2000 to 2011.

The fraud was brought to light when then chief executive Michael Woodford blew the whistle on the firm and revealed that the company had been hiding investment losses for years in one of Japan’s biggest accounting scandals and wiped 80% off the value of the company.