Japanese camera and medical equipment maker Olympus and its UK subsidiary Gyrus Group are to be prosecuted for deceptive financial accounting following a two year-investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

In an announcement yesterday Olympus said the SFO had charged it with breaching Section 501 of the UK Companies Act by providing 'misleading, false or deceptive' material in its financial accounts for Gyrus Group for the financial years 2009 and 2010.

Olympus bought Gyrus, a British medical equipment firm, for $2bn (£1.28bn) in 2008. In addition to paying the world's largest M&A advisory fee, equivalent to one-third of the purchase price, Olympus later wrote down the value of the deal along with a handful of other acquisitions.

The acquisition of Gyrus was one of a number of deals called into question when newly appointed Olympus CEO Michael Woodford turned whistleblower in 2011.

Woodford queried a number of large payments made by the company in relation to several takeover deals.

The resulting $1.7bn (£1.1bn) accounting fraud scandal eventually saw three former Olympus executives found guilty and given suspended sentences by the Japanese courts for their part in falsifying accounts to cover up losses.

In a statement about the latest SFO investigation, Olympus said: 'it is difficult to predict the outcome of this matter or estimate the level of fines that may be imposed on the company and Gyrus Group Ltd.' As a result, the company said, 'the potential financial impact of this prosecution on Olympus group's business is unclear'.