Showdown at Olympus

The British former chief executive of Japanese cameras giant Olympus today had his first, extremely tense, meeting with the directors who fired him in October after he uncovered evidence of a massive fraud.

At a packed press conference in Tokyo, the expressive Michael Woodford, 51, declared: "They didn't shake my hand and I didn't offer mine."

There had been no talk at the meeting of him returning to his former post, despite the company's admission that his allegations of wrongdoing were true. "I'm not begging to come back," he said, although he was willing if shareholders asked him to. "I didn't volunteer for this. I'm not a hero."

Suspicion has swirled about possible links between unusual payments and organised crime. Woodford said he had no proof of gangster links but urged authorities to "follow the money".

Shares in Olympus have plunged more than 60% since the scandal broke.