Category Archives: Carlos Ghosn

Disgraced Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn sues former employer for $1bn

Posted on by

Executive who jumped bail in Japan and escaped to Beirut has filed claim in Lebanese court

Carlos Ghosn, the disgraced former Nissan executive who jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon, has filed a $1bn lawsuit against his former employer.

Ghosn, the mastermind of a carmaking alliance with Renault that also later involved Mitsubishi Motors, was detained in Japan in November 2018 amid allegations of financial misconduct involving a plot to deliberately underreport his remuneration.

Continue reading...

US father and son jailed in Tokyo for helping Carlos Ghosn flee Japan

Posted on by

US army special forces veteran Michael Taylor was sentenced to two years and his son Peter for one year and eight months

A Tokyo court has handed down the first sentences related to Carlos Ghosn’s arrest and escape from Japan, imprisoning US army special forces veteran Michael Taylor for two years and his son Peter for one year and eight months for helping the former Nissan chairman flee to Lebanon.

“This case enabled Ghosn, a defendant of serious crime, to escape overseas,” Hideo Nirei, the chief judge, said while explaining the judgment. “One year and a half has passed, but there is no prospect of the trial being held.”

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn: UN tells Japan treatment of ex-Nissan boss ‘fundamentally unfair’

Posted on by

UN says former executive should be compensated for ‘arbitrary’ detention, though it made no judgment on allegations against him

The former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn’s multiple arrests and detentions in Japan before he dramatically fled the country last year were “arbitrary”, UN experts have ruled, urging Tokyo to pay him compensation.

In an opinion dated late last week and harshly condemned by Japan, the UN working group on arbitrary detention concluded that “the process of arresting and detaining Mr Ghosn four times was fundamentally unfair”.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn issued travel ban in Lebanon after Interpol warrant

Posted on by

Japan hits back at former Nissan boss after fugitive attacks its controversial justice system

Japan has hit back at Carlos Ghosn after the former Nissan boss’s criticisms of the country’s justice system after his dramatic escape to Lebanon, as Beirut prosecutors issued a travel ban for the fugitive.

Masako Mori, Japan’s justice minister, on Thursday accused Ghosn of making “abstract, unclear or baseless assertions” about the Japanese criminal justice system, and said his flight was unjustified.

Continue reading...

Japan issues arrest warrant for Carlos Ghosn’s wife

Posted on by

Carole Ghosn accused of perjury, as Nissan says it will pursue former chairman who fled to Lebanon

Prosecutors in Japan have issued an arrest warrant for the wife of Carlos Ghosn for alleged perjury, as Nissan vowed to pursue its former chairman over his “serious misconduct” while head of the carmaker.

Tokyo prosecutors’ special investigation squad said Carole Ghosn – a vocal supporter of her husband during his long detention in Japan – was suspected of making a false statement during testimony to the Tokyo district court last April, according to Kyodo news agency. Details of the allegation were not immediately available.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn ‘caught bullet train’ during escape from Japan

Posted on by

Border controls tightened as Japan investigates how ex-Nissan boss skipped bail

Reports have emerged about how the fugitive former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn managed to jump bail in Japan, as the country’s justice minister said border controls would be bolstered after the audacious escape.

The 65-year-old executive skipped bail nearly a week ago, fleeing Japan where he had been awaiting trial on multiple counts of financial misconduct, which he denies.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn: an arrest, an escape, and questions about justice in Japan

Posted on by
The feted car executive had railed against the motives behind his detention since the day he was arrested

Carlos Ghosn’s dramatic escape from Japan to Lebanon last week has raised many questions over how he pulled off such an audacious act, but his motives are not in doubt. With four months to go before his financial misconduct trial was due to begin, the net was closing in on the former auto executive, and he knew it.

Nissan’s one-time saviour had not been permitted to speak to his wife over Christmas, and was disturbed by news that Japanese prosecutors had questioned his son and daughter in the US in early December. For Ghosn, according to sources close to him, it amounted to an attempt to force him to confess.

Continue reading...

Japan issues Interpol wanted notice for Carlos Ghosn

Posted on by

Move follows tycoon’s dramatic flight to Beirut to escape corruption charges

Japanese authorities have issued an Interpol wanted notice for Carlos Ghosn, as the former Nissan and Renault chairman released a statement denying his wife or family were involved in his dramatic flight from corruption charges in Japan.

The international policing organisation’s “red notice” alerts forces around the world that a person is wanted, in this case by Japanese police.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn prepares to speak as Japan comes to terms with saviour who fled

Posted on by

Wife dismisses reports husband escaped inside an instrument case as world awaits full explanation from fugitive

The world will have to wait until next week for what could be the only definitive account of how Carlos Ghosn managed to leave Japan months before he was due to stand trial for alleged financial misconduct.

The former Nissan chairman who fled the country to Lebanon while out on bail, will speak to the media in Beirut next Wednesday, media reports said, in a public appearance that could provide answers to myriad questions swirling around his daring escape.

Continue reading...

Japan’s media accuse Carlos Ghosn of ‘cowardly act’ after flight to Lebanon

Posted on by

Papers question granting of bail, while reports suggest Ghosn met Lebanese president

The usually staid Japanese media have criticised Carlos Ghosn after the tycoon jumped bail and fled to Lebanon – reportedly inside a musical instrument case – to avoid what he called “political persecution” in Japan.

“Running away is a cowardly act that mocks Japan’s justice system,” said the Yomiuri Shimbun. By leaving the country, Ghosn had “lost the opportunity to prove his innocence and vindicate his honour”, the paper added, noting that the courts, his defence lawyers and immigration control officials also bore some responsibility in the affair.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn escaped Japan ‘hiding in a musical instrument case’

Posted on by

His ‘big adventure’ reportedly involved his wife, a Gregorian band and ex-special services

Carlos Ghosn reportedly fled house arrest in Japan in a musical instrument case, in an audacious Hollywood movie-style escape masterminded by his wife, Carole, with the assistance of a Gregorian music band and a team of ex-special forces officers.

The escape began when the band arrived at his home in Tokyo, where Ghosn has been held under house arrest and strict police surveillance, according to Lebanese TV news channel MTV. At the end of the performance, as the musicians packed up their instruments, Ghosn – whose height is stated at 1.7m, or just under 5ft 6in, in his Wikipedia entry – apparently slipped into one of the larger cases and was taken to a small local airport.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn, ousted Nissan boss, says he has fled ‘Japanese injustice’

Posted on by

Ghosn, who had been banned from leaving Japan, flies to Lebanon and says he will no longer be held in a rigged system

Carlos Ghosn, who is awaiting trial on charges of financial misconduct, has left Japan and arrived in Lebanon to “escape injustice”.

The former Nissan chairman issued a statement on Tuesday morning in which he said he would “no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed”.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn’s former home: inside Tokyo’s notorious detention centre

Posted on by

Short tour allowed inside Japanese prison accused of keeping suspects in conditions designed to ‘break’ them for confessions

The forbidding outline of Tokyo detention centre is impossible to miss, even on a dark, wet afternoon in early June. The X-shaped building dominates the skyline of the unfashionable Kosuge neighbourhood in the city’s north-east.

Aside from brief eruptions of media interest when a high-profile killer is led to the gallows, for much of the time there is little public scrutiny of its occupants – more than 1,600 inmates and about 800 staff.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers say his treatment is illegal and inhuman

Posted on by

Prosecutors trying to force confession out of former Nissan chairman, says defence team

Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers have condemned his latest arrest as “inhuman”, claiming it has interrupted his treatment for chronic kidney failure and that prosecutors were attempting to force a confession out of the former Nissan chairman.

According to Reuters, Ghosn’s defence team said in documents prepared after he was arrested for a fourth time last week that Japanese prosecutors were attempting to frustrate their preparations for his trial – a date for which has yet to be set – and trying to force him to confess.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn says ‘backstabbing’ Nissan conspiring against him

Posted on by

In video message ex-chairman says he is innocent and talks of fears for company’s future

Carlos Ghosn has accused Nissan executives of conspiring to have him arrested over unfounded fears about his plans for the Japanese carmaker, and saying he had been unfairly portrayed as a “dictator” by “backstabbing” former colleagues.

In a video recorded shortly before he was rearrested in Tokyo last week, the former Nissan chairman said he looked forward to a fair trial – a date for which has yet to be set – and he feared for Nissan’s future.

Continue reading...

Nissan shareholders sack Carlos Ghosn from company board

Posted on by

Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa opened meeting with a speech outlining allegations against his former mentor

Nissan shareholders have voted to eject Carlos Ghosn from the board, as the detained former chairman fights multiple financial misconduct charges that have landed him in custody.

The extraordinary shareholders’ meeting at a Tokyo hotel was the first such gathering since the stunning arrest of the 65-year-old auto sector titan on 19 November.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn criticises ‘outrageous and arbitrary’ detention after fresh arrest

Posted on by

Former Nissan chairman says prosecutors are trying to ‘break him’ with latest move

Carlos Ghosn has been put back under arrest over allegations he misused company funds, prompting the former Nissan chairman to angrily denounce his detention as “outrageous and arbitrary”.

Japanese TV showed prosecutors arriving at Ghosn’s apartment in Tokyo, less than a month after he was freed on bail following more than 100 days in detention.

Continue reading...

Carlos Ghosn indicted on fresh financial misconduct charges in Japan

Posted on by

Former Nissan head says he is innocent, meaning he could remain in detention until trial begins

Carlos Ghosn could remain in detention for several months after prosecutors indicted him on two new charges of financial misconduct, days after the former Nissan chairman insisted he had been wrongly accused.

Ghosn was charged with aggravated breach of trust and for understating his pay by 4.3 billion yen for three years through March 2018, the Tokyo district court said.

Continue reading...

Renault finds no illegal payments to Carlos Ghosn in past two years

Posted on by

Investigation will now examine payments made to former Nissan chairman before 2017

Renault has said it has so far found no evidence of illegal or fraudulent payments to Carlos Ghosn, despite the chief executive of the French carmaker remaining under arrest in Japan.

Ghosn was arrested in November by Japanese authorities over allegations he under-reported income from Nissan, the carmaker he formerly led alongside Renault. He remains in the custody of Japanese authorities in Tokyo.

Continue reading...