Report Nissan's Carlos Ghosn to be arrested by Japan authorities for alleged financial violations

[Soup]

Carlos Ghosn to Stay in Jail After Tokyo Court Denies Bail Again

Ghosn’s lawyer says he will appeal the ruling again, this time to the Supreme Court

TOKYO—Carlos Ghosn is set to stay in jail at least until March after the Tokyo District Court upheld its earlier decision to deny his release on bail.

Defense lawyers appealed the Tuesday ruling but Judge Iwao Maeda rejected the appeal Thursday. When defendants aren’t granted bail, they must stay in jail for at least two months after charges are filed—a period that ends March 10 in Mr. Ghosn’s case—and after that, the court reviews the detention each month. Defense lawyers can seek a client’s release on bail at any time, but they generally wait for a new development in the case to try again.

Mr. Ghosn’s lawyer, Motonari Otsuru, said he would appeal Thursday’s ruling again, this time to the Supreme Court.

Mr. Ghosn was arrested on Nov. 19 and has been held since then at the Tokyo Detention House. He is charged with understating his compensation by more than $80 million over eight years of Nissan Motor Co.’s NSANY 0.15% financial reports and with causing Nissan to pay the company of a Saudi Arabian friend who helped him with a personal financial problem. The latest charges were filed on Jan. 11 and cleared the way for Mr. Ghosn to seek his release on bail.

Mr. Ghosn says he is innocent. He says he kept a record at Nissan of how much he thought he was worth but it was hypothetical and didn’t bind Nissan to pay him anything beyond his publicly reported compensation. He says Nissan received valuable services from the Saudi company and paid it appropriately.

He is also charged with damaging Nissan by making the company take over a personal derivative contract designed to protect Mr. Ghosn against a fall in the Japanese yen. Nissan held Mr. Ghosn’s side of the contract between October 2008 and February 2009. He says he made an agreement to ensure the company couldn’t suffer any losses and asserts there was no damage to Nissan.

At a hearing on Jan. 8, a judge at the Tokyo District Court said Mr. Ghosn was being held because he was a flight risk and because he might destroy evidence in the case if released.

In Japan, it is common for defendants who deny charges against them to remain in jail for months or even more than a year while they await trial. Mr. Ghosn’s lawyer has said he expects it will be at least six months until a trial begins.

 

[chonkoa]

I cannot understand why Carlos is denied bail, he is in Japan and not the USA or some country in Europe. This whole thing stink of corporate power poop show.

 

[Soup]

Companies led by ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn donated to his children's school and Paris ball | The Japan Times

Companies led by ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn donated to his children's school and Paris ball

Companies headed by Carlos Ghosn, the embattled former head of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, made donations to his children’s school and the posh debutantes’ ball in Paris where his daughters were presented.

The contributions, first reported by L’Express Magazine, were confirmed by the organizations involved.

The gifts are the latest revelations about Ghosn’s use of company funds, including an extended weekend for eight couples at Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival and lavish events at the Versailles Palace. The disclosures come as the carmakers audit the Dutch company that oversees their partnership, with the conclusions expected by the end of March. The alliance had a budget of €900,000 ($1 million) in 2018 for “donations and sponsors,” L’Express said.

Ghosn, 64, was released on bail Wednesday after being held for 108 days in a Tokyo prison on charges of underreporting his income and breach of trust at Nissan. Gaining his liberty will allow him more time to prepare his legal defense for a trial that may be months away, and to defend himself in the court of public opinion. He has denied wrongdoing.

The Renault-Nissan alliance and Ghosn’s family are listed as donors by the American School of Paris for the construction of its new campus, which includes a “Ghosn room.” His son Anthony attended the school, as did his daughter Maya, according to her LinkedIn profile. In a statement, the school said the auto alliance “has been a valued partner.”

Renault began supporting the Paris “Debutantes’ Ball,” an event typically held each year for 25 young high-society women, a decade ago. Ghosn’s daughter Nadine attended in 2005, and Caroline in 2006, while Anthony put in an appearance in 2013, said Ophelie Renouard, the ball’s organizer.

Renouard invited the Ghosn daughters after she saw their father on the cover of the French magazine Le Nouvel Economiste in 2005 and was struck by his international profile and links to Asia, she said. Ghosn was named CEO of Renault that year. He served as Nissan CEO from 2001 to 2017.

The sponsorship relationship was “legitimate,” Renouard said, and involved the use of Twingo cars with Renault getting a table at the event. “Renault was seeking positive coverage in Asia, where we are quite strong, with a presence in China, Japan and the Philippines,” she said. The sponsorship for the 2019 edition of the ball was signed in October, according to Renouard, who personally invited Anthony Ghosn to attend the glitzy event in 2013, when his father and sister Nadine also joined.

A spokeswoman for the Ghosn family said Renault had a sponsorship relationship with the debutantes’ ball that helped the carmakers’ image, as well as a policy to support the schools attended by the children of its expatriate staff. It’s not unusual for international companies to make such contributions, she said.

Spokesmen for Renault and the Renault-Nissan alliance declined to comment.

Ghosn was ousted as chairman of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shortly after his November arrest, and resigned in January as chairman and chief executive officer of Renault, thus losing his position atop the alliance. His downfall has triggered tension within the carmaking pact that is entwined by cross-shareholdings.

 

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[TheNewBATMAN]

I sent Razorman to have him released from prison. Compared to Arkham, Japan's prison is a piece of cake. Razorman got Ghosn out while the guards were bowing

 

[Soup]

Ghosn's lawyer slams bail conditions - Japan Today

Ghosn's lawyer slams bail conditions

The lawyer for Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn on Saturday criticized a bail condition that prevents his client from seeing his wife, as Ghosn awaits trial on financial misconduct charges.

A judge has forbidden Ghosn from seeing his wife, Carole, including in the presence of lawyers, or talking to her on the phone. Prosecutors say the restriction is needed to prevent evidence tampering.

"This is unfair," Takashi Takano, the lawyer, said in a phone interview, calling it a human rights violation. "It's cruel and unusual."

His earlier appeal of the ban, rejected by district and appeals courts, went to the Supreme Court, which turned it down last month.

The Supreme Court decision cannot be appealed, but Takano vowed to keep filing new petitions, stressing that the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the constitutionality or the human rights aspects. The next one will be filed within two or three weeks, he said.

Ghosn's lawyers recently filed a second petition with the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, arguing that the restrictions on seeing his wife amount to a deprivation of fundamental human rights.

Takano acknowledged that the situation looks dismal, as Japan's Supreme Court is not easily influenced by other governments' views or by public opinion.

"Even the strongest man in the world can be stressed, psychologically damaged. That's very natural as a human being," said Takano, noting that Ghosn was holding up well compared to other clients he has had.

Ghosn has been aggressively taking part in meetings with his defense team, according to Takano.

The case has entered the stage known as "pre-trial sessions," during which both sides hand in evidence. A trial date has not been set. In Japan, preparations for trials routinely take months.

Ghosn, who led Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. for two decades, was arrested in November and charged with falsifying financial documents in reporting retirement compensation, and with breach of trust in diverting Nissan money toward personal investment losses and a company effectively run by him.

Ghosn, 65, a Brazilian-born Frenchman of Lebanese ancestry, has repeatedly said he is innocent, accusing some at Nissan of plotting against him and opposing a plan to merge Nissan with French alliance partner Renault.

Renault is set to vote Tuesday on a possible merger with Fiat Chrysler.

Nissan has dismissed Ghosn from the board and denounced him as unethical, and has promised to strengthen corporate governance.

Takano, who has law degrees from the U.S. and Japan, has earned the nickname "Legend" for winning innocent verdicts in a nation where the conviction rate is higher than 99%.

Despite the odds, Takano expressed confidence that Ghosn would get exonerated, while declining to go into the specifics of his defense strategy.

"We will win," he said.

 

[chonkoa]

This is now a soap opera.

 

[Centurion]

This man is like the Julian Assange of the automotive world. I hope he is treated fairly.

 

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Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's ex-head, flees Japan to Lebanon

Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has travelled to Lebanon after fleeing Japan, where he faces a trial over allegations of financial misconduct.

In a statement, Mr Ghosn said he had not fled justice but "escaped injustice and political persecution".

His lawyer said he was "dumbfounded" by the news and that he had not recently spoken with his client.

It is unclear how the former chief executive officer managed to leave, as he was barred from travelling abroad.

Mr Ghosn, who has an estimated net worth of $120m (£91m), was one of the most powerful figures in the global car industry until his arrest in November 2018. He denies any wrongdoing.

His case has attracted global attention and his months-long detention led to increased scrutiny of Japan's justice system.

The 65-year-old was born in Brazil to parents of Lebanese descent and was raised in Beirut, before travelling to France for further education. He holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese passports.

But his lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday that Mr Ghosn's legal team was still in possession of his passports.

"I don't even know if we can contact him. I don't know how we will proceed beyond that," he said. Lebanon has no extradition agreement with Japan.

Mr Ghosn was released on $9m bail in April under strict conditions that barred him from travelling abroad.
What did Carlos Ghosn's statement say?

Mr Ghosn released a short statement after multiple news agencies reported he had travelled to Lebanon.

Confirming he had gone to the Middle Eastern country, Mr Ghosn said he would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied.

"I have not fled justice - I have escaped injustice and political persecution. I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week."

Mr Ghosn has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing since he was first detained. His lawyers have accused the Japanese government of conspiring against him, calling the prosecution's case "politically motivated".

Mr Ghosn's wife, Carole, told the BBC in June that authorities had sought to "intimidate and humiliate" the couple.

How he could have left Japan remains unclear. There was video surveillance of his home and he had restricted phone and computer usage.

He had to surrender his passports to his lawyer, and had to ask for court permission to travel away from home for more than two nights.

According to Japan's Kyodo News agency, the terms of his bail remain unchanged. Immigration authorities hold no record of him leaving the country, public broadcaster NHK reports.

 

[Deleted member 25]

Badass.

 

[Soup]

A celebrated figure in Lebanon
Analysis by Quentin Sommerville, BBC News, Beirut

There's no sign of Carlos Ghosn at his $14m dusty pink mansion in one of Beirut's most expensive neighbourhoods. The building, which is subject to a legal dispute, is empty.

But the former Nissan boss will have no trouble finding somewhere safe and luxurious to stay in Lebanon. Of Lebanese heritage, Mr Ghosn spent his early years here with family members. He's much celebrated and even appears on one of the country's postage stamps.

He is also the co-founder of the IXSIR vineyard here, which boasts wines that are rich and "of remarkable elegance".

Escaping Japan would have been difficult given that his three passports were taken from him, but Lebanon has less than stringent border controls. Mr Ghosn is said to have arrived by private jet on Sunday evening and someone of his stature would have been able to breeze through immigration. When in town, he is often escorted by the security services.

He's been held in Japan for more than a year and in that time Lebanon has changed dramatically. Months of protests against corruption and the political elite have ousted the prime minister, and there's a full-blown economic crisis.

Japan gives millions in aid to Lebanon and will want Mr Ghosn returned. He may have successfully fled Japan, but he hasn't escaped his troubles.

What charges does Carlos Ghosn face?

Once considered a hero in Japan for turning around Nissan - even becoming the subject of a Japanese comic book - Mr Ghosn spent 108 days in custody after his arrest in Tokyo in November 2018.

Nissan sacked him three days after his arrest.

Prosecutors allege that he made a multi-million-dollar payment to a Nissan distributor in Oman. Nissan, meanwhile, has filed its own criminal complaint against Mr Ghosn, accusing him of diverting money from the company for his own personal enrichment.

He is also accused of underreporting his own salary. Mr Ghosn denies all the charges.

Greg Kelly, a former Nissan executive who was arrested along with Mr Ghosn, is awaiting trial in Japan on financial misconduct charges. He denies conspiring with Mr Ghosn to falsify the former CEO's pay.

 

[TheNewBATMAN]

I simply lent him the Bat-plane with Alfred piloting.

Passport? Immigration? What are those? Peasants thingy?

 

[dalab]

This is real? just escaped from japan ?, how crazy is that

 

[Centurion]

Badass.

Indeed. I considered the probability of an escape to be very very low.

The saga continues!

 

[Yaz]

Well, this answers my question if he's Lebanese.

 

[SCOTT27]

The movie is going to be awesome.

 

[sako97]

They guy hid in an instrument case from a visiting Georgian band and jetted out. What a boss.

Great way for him to end the decade. We may never hear from him again.