Olympus sues 5 auditors seeking up to 1 bln yen

TOKYO Jan 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Olympus Corp said on Tuesday it has sued five past and current auditors seeking up to 1 billion yen ($13 million) in compensation, after they signed off on 13 years of fradulent accounts.

The suit against five individuals, filed with the Tokyo district court on Tuesday, comes after an unofficial panel of experts cleared global accounting groups KPMG and Ernst & Young of any responsibility for the company's $1.7 billion accounting fraud.

The role of accounting firms remains under official review.