Olympus, a maker of cameras and medical equipment, paid $687 million to two advisory companies related to its purchase of Gyrus Group Plc in 2008, the report said. The fees were more than a third of the $2 billion purchase price, according to the report. One of the advisers, Cayman Islands-incorporated AXAM Investments Ltd., was removed from the local registry in June 2010 for non-payment of license fees, according to the report.

Merger and acquisition advisory fees depend on individual deals and usually range from 1 percent to 5 percent...

“It is truly extraordinary and frankly unbelievable that Olympus, a major Nikkei listed public company, made a series of payments approaching USD 700 million in fees to a company in the Cayman Islands whose ultimate ownership is still unknown to us, preventing the auditors from verifying that no related parties were involved,” Woodford wrote to Kikukawa in an Oct. 11 letter. “In putting the company first, the honorable way forward would be for you and Mori-san to face the consequences of what has taken place, which is a shameful saga by any stretch of the imagination.”

Woodford showed Bloomberg News six letters he says he wrote to Kikukawa and the board questioning the payments in the weeks before he was fired. The advisers negotiated an increase in completion fees to approximately $682 million from $189 million, according to the PWC report.

Woodford, 51, became president of Olympus in April. He succeeded Kikukawa, who was president from October 2003 to March 2011.

Kikukawa said at the Oct. 14 press conference that Woodford was ousted “unanimously” at the 9 a.m. board meeting with 13 attendants.

“I was extremely concerned for my safety and well-being,” he [Woodford] said. I “left Japan on the first available flight to London via Hong Kong on Friday afternoon.”

Additionally, Olympus paid about $773 million for three closely held companies between 2006 and 2008, according to Woodford’s letter. Subsequently, Olympus wrote down the value of the acquisitions by $586 million, the letter said. The acquisitions had little in common with Olympus’ main businesses, according to Woodford.

“There were $800 million in payments to buy companies making face cream and Tupperware,” said Woodford. “What the hell were we doing paying $800 million for these companies?”

Shares in Olympus fell as much as 30% on Tuesday after the company admitted to hiding losses on securities investments for decades. The company said it had used funds related to past acquisitions to cover these losses.

Executive vice president, Hisashi Mori, has been dismissed as a result.

Olympus president, Shuichi Takayama, is blaming former president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, former vice president Hisashi Mori and the company's auditor Hideo Yamada for the transactions.

"I was absolutely unaware of the facts I am now explaining to you," Mr Takayama said. "The previous presentations were mistaken." He added that the company would consider criminal charges if necessary.

"There is a serious danger that Olympus shares will be delisted. The future of the company is extremely dark."