Why would the state of Idaho be appointing a special deputy attorney general to handle litigation against Toshiba in Japan? That question arose after the appointment was one of four routine special deputy attorney general appointments approved without comment by the state Board of Examiners this week, but when I asked board members, they weren’t familiar with the case. It turns out that the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho saw investment losses estimated between $900,000 and $2.7 million when its Toshiba stock holdings dropped sharply in value several times over an accounting controversy at the Japanese firm between 2008 and 2015.

“My understanding is that nothing has actually been filed at this point,” said PERSI spokesman Kelly Cross. “Toshiba has admitted to participating in an accounting scheme that deliberately overstated its profits over a period of seven years starting in 2008, with the knowledge and approval of top company executives.”

In 2015, the company withdrew its earnings forecasts for 2014, announced that it wouldn’t pay a year-end dividend, and said it would be setting up an independent committee to investigate the use of improper accounting methods related to various infrastructure projects.

The Board of Examiners agreed to appoint Bonnie Dixon of Atsumi and Sakai as a special deputy attorney general to represent PERSI in “pursuing litigation in Japan against Toshiba Corp.” Cross said, “Because PERSI’s related investments were not made through U.S. markets, the litigation would take place in Japan.”

Atsumi and Sakai is an independent law firm in Tokyo; Dixon is a partner. When she joined the firm in 2005, she because the first non-Japanese attorney to become a partner in a domestic Japanese law firm.