Roiled by scandal, Fuji Xerox suspends business with the New Zealand government.
Fuji Xerox has suspended business with New Zealand government agencies after a massive accounting scandal.
The company agreed to "voluntary suspension" from its Government contracts, The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said today.
MBIE said the suspension was to give time to understand the full implications of a report from Fujifilm Holdings into irregular accounting practices at its New Zealand subsidiary.
All sales and marketing to government agencies under all-of-government contracts has been suspended. However, it will continue to meet obligations under existing agreements with public sector agencies," MBIE said.
The suspension will be reviewed in six weeks, after the recent publication of the English translation of the full report by Fujifilm Holdings, MBIE said.
The Ministry said it wants to ensure companies that supply government are held to the high standards the public would expect.
"The commitment of the entire Fuji Xerox Group to the New Zealand Government remains strong and Fuji Xerox New Zealand has the full support of the whole Fuji Xerox," said Hiroshi Kurihara, president of Fuji Xerox.
He said Fuji Xerox NZ was confident it would be able to satisfy MBIE that the issues were historical and resume business with agencies in the near future.
Inappropriate accounting practices by Fuji Xerox in Australia and New Zealand resulted in a $472 million loss and a series of top-level executive and board resignations last month.
Fuji Xerox parent Fujifilm Holdings told the Tokyo Stock Exchange a loss of NZ$284 million as a result of improper accounting in New Zealand has blown out to NZ$472 million after inappropriate practices were uncovered in Australia as well.
Problems have also been revealed closer to home in Japan, forcing the company to postpone the release of its annual results. It is also expected to revise past reported earnings.
