????伍德福德還在不斷給奧林巴斯制造麻煩。他呼吁日本監(jiān)管機構(gòu)對這筆咨詢費用進(jìn)行調(diào)查，還鼓動股東們也站在他這邊，和他一起呼吁監(jiān)管機構(gòu)進(jìn)行調(diào)查，完全不怕奧林巴斯起訴自己。日本證監(jiān)機構(gòu)的軟弱是出了名的，不過奧林巴斯的股東們——包括公司某些最大的股東，都已經(jīng)開始向公司發(fā)難。到目前為止，這起丑聞已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致奧林巴斯的股價下跌近半，因為這些存在問題的交易可能會導(dǎo)致公司的收益報告改寫，而新的收益報告可能會出現(xiàn)非常顯著的變化。

????這起丑聞還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒有結(jié)束。許多問題還沒得到解答，第一個問題就是那筆錢到哪兒去了。倍受質(zhì)疑的Axes America公司成立于1997年，在位于紐約市中心的一間辦公室里干了好多年。2008年，這家公司撤銷了券商登記。另據(jù)普華永道會計事務(wù)所（PriceWaterhouseCoopers）的報告，就在今年早些時候，Axes America的開曼群島子公司Axam Investments在收到了奧林巴斯的那筆咨詢費后不久，也神秘地注銷了。

????《財富》雜志（Fortune）了解到，這兩家公司貌似都隸屬于佛羅里達(dá)州波卡拉頓市的Sagawa & Co公司，它的總裁和所有人為佐川元（音譯——譯注）。佐川今年64歲，是華爾街的老手。據(jù)1991年《證券周刊》（Securities Week）上的一份檔案顯示，上世紀(jì)80年代，他曾在野村證券（Nomura Securities）和德崇證券（Drexel Burnham Lambert）工作，后來又加盟三洋證券美國分公司（Sanyo Securities America），負(fù)責(zé)兼并購業(yè)務(wù)，再后來成為了潘韋伯（PaineWebber）公司的一名任事股東。除此之外，關(guān)于佐川的信息少之又少。我們向佐川發(fā)送了一份采訪請求，但他并未回應(yīng)。

????根據(jù)Axes America公司2008年提交給美國證監(jiān)會（SEC）的一份檔案，該公司曾向紐約金融機構(gòu)佩雷拉溫伯格合伙公司（Perella Weinberg Partners）支付6,500萬美元的現(xiàn)金。該檔案顯示佩雷拉溫伯格公司也在奧林巴斯收購Gyrus一案中扮演了二級顧問的角色。不過佩雷拉溫伯格公司拒絕對此進(jìn)行評論。該公司對此案的參與止于并購雙方2007年的會談期間，當(dāng)時Axes America公司的咨詢費用還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒有膨脹到數(shù)億美元的地步。

????不管奧林巴斯丑聞最后結(jié)果如何，菊川剛和他的董事會大概都不會有好果子吃。如果奧林巴斯能逃過抄底買家的惡意收購，那么它將需要一個新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層。與此同時，伍德福德仍然在繼續(xù)爆料。上周四，他暗示奧林巴斯“非正規(guī)費用”的總額可能高達(dá)15億美元，并表示他在揭奧林巴斯老底的同時，也正在尋求警方的保護(hù)。

????譯者：樸成奎

????Woodford is still stirring up trouble for Olympus, calling for Japanese regulators to investigate the advisory fees, clamoring for shareholders to also demand an investigation and all but daring Olympus to try to sue him. Japan's securities regulators are notoriously toothless, but shareholders -- including those with the largest stakes in Olympus - are starting to speak up. Already, the scandal has nearly halved Olympus' stock price, since the deals in question could force the company to restate its earnings significantly.????

????What's more, the scandal is far from passing. Many questions remain, starting with just where all that money went. Axes America, the advisory company in question, set up business in 1997 and worked out of a midtown office for years. In 2008, the company withdrew its broker-dealer registrations. Then, according to a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Axam was stricken from the Cayman Islands registry earlier this year, not long after receiving its last payment from Olympus.

????Both companies appear to have been controlled by a Boca Raton, Fla., firm called Sagawa & Co., whose president and owner is Hajime Sagawa, Fortune has learned. Sagawa, 64, is an old hand on Wall Street. According to 1991 profile in Securities Week, Sagawa worked at Nomura Securities and Drexel Burnham Lambert in the 1980s before heading up M&A at Sanyo Securities America and later becoming a managing partner at PaineWebber. But little information on Sagawa exists beyond that. Sagawa did not respond to requests for an interview.

????According to a 2008 filing by Axes America with the SEC, the firm paid $6.5 million in cash to Perella Weinberg Partners, a financial advisory firm based in New York. The filing noted that Perella Weinberg acted as a subadvisor to Olympus' acquisition of Gyrus. Perella Weinberg declined to comment for this story. But its involvement seems limited to the merger talks in 2007, well before Axes' fees ballooned into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

????Whatever the outcome of the Olympus scandal, it's not likely to favor Kikukawa or his board. If Olympus can escape a hostile takeover from a buyer who sees its shares are cheap, then it will need new leadership. For his part Woodford, is remaining vocal. On Thursday, he hinted that the total amount of "irregular payments" could total $1.5 billion, and that he was seeking police protection as he agitates for Olympus to clean its house.