Toyo Shigeta, the New Jersey-based CEO of the Dentsu Holdings company, allegedly took surreptitious photos of the crotch of Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova, while she was on the set of a Canon ad in New York, in 2005.

The existence of the pictures emerged in November, 2007, during a lawsuit filed by the former creative director of the Dentsu ad agency, Steve Biegel, who claimed that he was fired for complaining about repeated incidents of a similar nature. Biegel also claimed that Shigeta pressured him to hire prostitutes while on company trips overseas.

"Taking closeup crotch shots of women is a personal obsession of defendant Shigeta," Biegel claimed in the suit. Dentsu representatives denied the allegations and threatened to countersue Biegel for libel.

One of the photos in question has circulated on the Internet. It shows Sharapova reclined in a chair, wearing a tennis skirt with her underwear visible.http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2007/11/01/2007-11-01_suit_ad_agency_head_took_crotch_shots_of.html

Maria Sharapova is a Russian born tennis player. She has won a number of major tennis tournaments both in singles and doubles play. Her most notable singles tournament wins include the Australian Open in 2008, the U.S. Open in 2006 and Wimbledon in 2004.http://www.mariasharapova.com/defaultflash.sps Sharapova has held the number one position in the women's tennis ranks on several occasions during her career. She has also modeled and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.http://www.mariasharapova.com/defaultflash.sps There have been several provocative pictures of Sharapova circulated throughout the years, including the crotch shot photos.