( CNN ) -- Shares of scandal-plagued Olympus rallied after three board members of the Japanese camera maker quit ahead of today 's meeting with a company ex-CEO turned whistleblower . Shares soared as much as 25 % in early trade Friday after former Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa , former executive Vice President Hisashi Mori and Auditor Hideo Yamada quit . The company claims the trio helped fake payments for merger transactions to cover $ 1.4 billion in losses . The resignations are the latest in a series of incidents in a scandal that began on October 14 with the firing of Michael Woodford as chief executive , who subsequently went public with allegations the Olympus management team and board had covered up hundreds of millions of losses in bad investments dating back to the 1990s . A subsequent probe that looked into the shady M & A transactions , including whether there was Japanese mob involvement , have pummeled shares of the camera and medical equipment maker . The share value has dropped more than 80 % in the past six weeks . The company faces the threat of de-listing from the Tokyo Stock Exchange for inaccurate financial statements . Woodford was back in Tokyo on Thursday , where he met with Japanese prosecutors . This morning he met with the Olympus board that fired him last month . Woodford said the board meeting was `` constructive . '' Woodford claims he was fired because he asked about the $ 1.4 billion in questionable transaction fees . `` In Japanese life , it 's wonderful to be harmonious on the personal level with your friends and family , but in a corporation you need agitation , you need challenge , you need questioning , '' Woodford told reporters Thursday . `` And if that 's not good for Japan , then I 'm very sad . '' The murky merger and acquisition fees includes a $ 687 million transaction fee that represented about one-third of the cost of the acquisition , which would make it the largest percentage transaction fee in global merger and acquisition history . Earlier this week , a third party probe said it found no evidence that funds flowed from Olympus into organized crime , responding to a New York Times report that investigators are looking into whether missing cash went into companies linked with Japanese yakuza , or mobs . There is speculation that Woodford , who remains a director on the Olympus board , will be asked back as CEO . Woodford has said he would like to return to the company . If Woodford returns `` he would have a big target on his back ... but right now we do n't see any viable alternative , '' Ben Collett , head of Japan Equities for Louis Capital Markets , told CNN . `` So I think it 's about an 80 % certainty that he will ( return ) . But his ability to change the business from inside now I think is going to be somewhat comprised by that fact that : A ) he is a foreigner , and B ) he 's the person who basically brought down the established management . '' The company must provide revised financial information to the Tokyo Stock Exchange by December 14 or risk being de-listed . The company 's stock listing plummeted form 2,282 yen on October 13 down to a low of 460 yen on November 11 . The stock has see-sawed since then but was trading at 1,230 yen early Friday morning . CNN 's Ramy Inocencio and Junko Ogura contributed to this report .
Shares of scandal-plagued Olympus rallied after about one-third board members quit . Chairman Hideo Yamada , Vice President Hisashi Mori and Auditor Hideo Yamada quit . Ousted CEO turned whistleblower Tsuyoshi Kikukawa met with Japanese police . Investigation centers on 2,282 yen in losses the company claimed as transaction fees .