Ex-Olympus CEO Kaufmann Gets Suspended Sentence over Drugs

Tokyo, Dec. 27 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced Stefan Kaufmann, former president and CEO of Japanese optical equipment maker Olympus Corp., to 10 months in prison suspended for three years, for obtaining banned drugs.

Judge Hidekazu Komada said that Kaufmann, 56, bought drugs in violation of a law against narcotics in his "habitual" acts.

"It is clear he had a deep involvement with illegal drugs and was dependent on them," Komada said, confirming his repeated purchases of drugs including cocaine from a dealer.

On Kaufmann's claim that he could not cut his connection with his dealer because the dealer threatened to expose his drug purchases to the public, the judge said, "That cannot be considered an extenuating factor since he ordered and received the drugs himself."

But Komada decided to suspend the sentence, given that the defendant has been staying away from drugs. The judge told him, "I hope you will have a proper social life."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]