Toshiba chief executive Hisao Tanaka and his two predecessors resigned at a press conference in Tokyo after an external investigation revealed the scale of the problem and the executives' knowledge of the wrongdoing.
The company had been tasked with investigating Toshiba's accounts and subsequently found that Toshiba had overstated its operating profit by 151.8 billion yen, roughly three times Toshiba's initial estimate.
The irregularties are said to have happened over a period dating back to the financial crash in 2008.
Reuters reports that Tanaka was said to have been aware that the numbers didn't add up, and complicit in overstating profits and delaying the reporting of losses.
Toshiba, which has a market cap of $13.6 billion, will now aim to correct its accounts with an interim CEO, chairman Masashi Muromachi.
Shares in Toshiba rose six per cent following the news of the personnel changes but remain down around 20 per cent since the investigation became public knowledge back in April.
Toshiba announced at the start of 2015 that it would be all but exiting the TV market, making new sets solely for its native Japan.
We have however seen a new Blu-ray player, the BDX5500, and a new soundbar, the SB3950M1, from the company this year.
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