The executive, who was fired last year for embezzling about $5.3 million over four years since 2014, made the notification on Tuesday, Japan Display said in a statement.

The revelation comes as the cash-strapped company seeks to raise at least 50 billion yen ($460 million) through a bailout deal with Apple and other investors.

The company has already launched an internal investigation with its auditors and will announce results accordingly, the statement said. The potential investors have agreed to continue talks over the bailout, it added.

The liquid crystal display (LCD) maker for smartphones has been losing money for the past five years and last week reported its 11th consecutive quarterly net loss on sluggish display sales and restructuring costs.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Takashi Umekawa; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)