Ex-Nissan Ex-Chairman Carlos Ghosn Arrested for Fourth Time on Financial Misconduct Charges

Clifford Atiyeh
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Car and Driver

UPDATE 4/3/19: For the fourth time since last November, former Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi chairman Carlos Ghosn has been arrested in Japan. Automotive News reported that authorities raided Ghosn's Tokyo residence over claims of improper payments of some $35 million to a business associate in Oman who was a Nissan distributor. This is only one of several financial-impropriety charges. Ghosn had been out of jail for just about one month. He posted on Twitter earlier in the day, in English and Japanese, the statement that he would tell his side of the story on Thursday, April 11. It's unclear whether he will have that opportunity now in view of the rearrest.



UPDATE 3/4/19: After nearly four months in jail on financial-misconduct charges related to his years as chairman of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn was granted bail by a Tokyo court, the BBC is reporting. Bail has been set at nearly $9 million. The former head of Renault and Nissan could be out on Tuesday, March 4, the report said.

UPDATE 1/31/19: Carlos Ghosn, in an interview from a Japanese jail, gave an exclusive interview to the French newspaper Les Echos on Thursday in which he claimed that he has "an army" against him that includes "several hundred people at Nissan" dedicated to his prosecution. The former chief executive said he intends to fight to restore his reputation "and defend myself against false accusations," insisting that the treatment he is facing "would not happen in any other democracy in the world." The accusations against him from Nissan, he said, are "a distortion of reality meant to destroy my reputation." Ghosn, who has been held for 70 days, told the pair of reporters that he has "no idea of time," is only allowed outdoors for 30 minutes a day, and has no access to a phone, a computer, or "even a watch."

UPDATE 1/28/19: Nissan is now under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged financial misdeeds of the automaker's ousted chairman, Carlos Ghosn, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Nissan said it will cooperate with the SEC without giving details. Ghosn has maintained his innocence related to charges that include underreporting his compensation on Nissan financial reports.

UPDATE 1/9/19: Ghosn has lost an appeal to be released from jail while awaiting a future trial on financial-misconduct charges. The Tokyo District Court rejected the former Nissan chairman's petition. This means he could remain in jail as long as six months before a trial takes place, Bloomberg News reported, citing Ghosn's own lead attorney. The news service noted that his current imprisonment is set to end on January 11, but he is expected to face new or renewed charges then that will keep him in jail while prosecutors prepare for a future trial. Ghosn plans to appeal today's decision.

After seven weeks and counting, Carlos Ghosn, former Nissan chairman and current chairman and CEO of Renault, was finally able to defend himself in court against the Japanese prosecutors and Nissan directors whose allegations of financial crimes have kept him in jail for seven weeks and counting.

“I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated allegations,” Ghosn said, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. His lawyer, former prosecutor Motonari Ōtsuru, said on Tuesday that "There is no evidence of a crime."

Ghosn, who has been jailed since November 19, told the court on Monday that he has done nothing illegal. Japanese law essentially allows prosecutors to detain suspects as long as they wish until that suspect confesses or until a trial is called. Ghosn, who was deemed by the court to be a flight risk and denied bail, may stay in jail for months more until his trial.

Ghosn has been charged only with making false disclosures about his income on Nissan's corporate financial statements. Responding to that accusation, Ghosn said Nissan never finalized his contract and that the unreported money was for future payments Nissan would not pay him until his retirement.

Nissan has alleged that Ghosn used company assets for personal gain, including purchasing luxury apartments in Brazil and Lebanon and funneling money to a Saudi businessman to take care of a personal debt. His lawyer said that the businessman, Khaled Al Juffali, was a legitimate business partner who helped Nissan fix a dispute with a distributor in the region and that Ghosn used Al Juffali for a contract to convert his Nissan salary from yen to U.S. dollars and thus avoid currency swings. Ghosn maintains his innocence on all the allegations.

Since the initial arrest, Ghosn was removed from the chairmanship of both Nissan and Mitsubishi. He remains chairman and CEO at Renault and CEO of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.

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