Polaroid has taken the drastic action of filing for bankruptcy to protect itself from a fraud investigation.

In a statement, the photographic veteran explains: ‘Polaroid Corporation and its US subsidiaries today announced the company has filed voluntary petition for reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in order to facilitate the Company’s ongoing financial restructuring process. The financial restructuring process and the filing will not impact day-to-day operations for employees, customers, retailers and suppliers.’

The move is an attempt to protect Polaroid from a fraud investigation on its parent company, Petters Group, which has been its owner since 2005. Polaroid has stated categotically that neither it, or any of its management, are being investigated.

Mary L. Jeffries, Polaroid’s chief executive officer, added that customers will not be affected: ‘Our operations are strong and during this process Polaroid will ship products to our retail partners, work with our suppliers and contract manufacturers to fulfill retailer demand, honour customer warranties and employees are expected to receive their regular paychecks without interruption.’

She concluded: ‘We expect to continue our operations as normal during the reorganisation and are planning for new product launches in 2009.’