The Japanese authorities arrested seven in the accounting scandal at Olympus, including the camera maker’s former chairman and executive vice president on Thursday as part of investigations into a decade-long cover-up that has prompted concern over what critics say is lax corporate governance at Japanese companies.

Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, a former president and chairman of Olympus was arrested in Tokyo along with two other former executives on suspicion of having falsified financial statements. Two former investment bankers suspected of assisting to set up the cover-up, and two of their associates, were also arrested.

A panel of experts hired by Olympus to investigate the scandal has accused the former executives of masking investment losses racked up in Japan’s bubble economy over a period of possibly 13 years. With such losses ultimately accounted for in transactions disguised as merger fees paid to overseas investment funds.

The irregular accounting surfaced in October when Olympus fired Michael C. Woodford, who was its president and chief executive. At the time, Mr. Kikukawa attributed the dismissal to Mr. Woodford’s aggressive Western management style. However Mr. Woodford, a Briton, said he had been fired for inquiring a series of payouts made by the company between 2006 and 2008, and he provided what he said was evidence to the news media. Kikukawa subsequently resigned from the company.

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