The former CEO of Japanese IT services giant Fujitsu has sued the company over his bizarre dismissal last year.

In September 2009, the company said that Nozoe would step down due to illness. After Nozoe sued for wrongful dismissal, however, company directors admitted that they had lied. "It was the kind of lie that grown-ups tell sometimes,” one company auditor said at the time.

In fact, Nozoe had been ejected due to rumours that he was involved with an investment fund connected to yakuza crime syndicates.

Now, Nozoe is demanding $4.5 million in damages for alleging that he had yakuza connections, according the Reuters news agency. He also says that the company forced him to stay in hospital in order to substantiate their claims, infringing his personal liberty.

He has also demanded that the company and four of its directors publish apologies in national newspapers.