>Nissan was paying all or some of the costs at some amount of US$18 million for residences used by Ghosn in Rio de Janeiro, Beirut, Paris and Amsterdam, and that Ghosn charged family vacation expenses to the company.
And the list goes on and on...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Ghosn#Arrest_in_Tokyo_a...
>Nissan compliance auditors began trying to track Zi-A activity in 2014 but were stymied at first by the chain of shell companies used in Zi-A investments.
>Nissan funds were used to purchase Ghosn's Paris apartment in 2005, and Zi-A funds were used to purchase his $5 million beachfront Rio apartment in 2012 and his Beirut mansion, which, with renovations, cost over $15 million.
>In addition, to avoid reporting the full amount of his compensation in Nissan financials, as required by Japanese law beginning in 2010, Ghosn had Kelly structure complicated deferred payment plans which went unreported under an aggressive interpretation of the disclosure rules which Nissan's outside auditors had not signed off on, and which totaled around $80 million at the time of his arrest eight years later.
He's just your typical CEO criminal and should be in a cell next to murderers and drug kingpins.
Nissan stock in 2018 - $21. Today - $11.67.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Japan#Judicial...
Doesn't excuse any alleged crimes, but I didn't think it was entirely fair to surmise his career at Nissan with a reference to today's share price. Despite all that's written about CEOs, salaries, and correlated efficacy...
Also it is hard to say how much he was responsible for Nissan’s turnaround. In reading his wiki I kept seeing things that I knew took lots of hard work from people below him yet it is always attributed to the CEO.
It is much less defensible to invite the national news media to his arrest, lock the man up without access to his lawyers for months on end, and then go on a fishing expedition to find some reason to justify the arrest after the fact. Besides the routine abrogation of justice in Japan, of which this is only a minor instance, this practice takes a situation which might risk appearing corrupt and politically motivated, and doubles down on the politics and the appearance of corruption.
The SEC is unlikely to have gone after him just because he didn't act sufficiently Japanese.
(And if you believe that settling a case without admitting guilt is the same as guilt, I would hate to see what you think of criminal plea bargains in the US, which are much more common, and many of which are far worse abrogations of justice.)
> Ghosn was barred from serving as a director or officer of a public company for 10 years, while Kelly agreed to a five-year ban.
At the start of the thread, it's stated "Ghosn is really being persecuted for being a non-Japanese CEO of a Japanese company".
The SEC and French law enforcement are both unlikely to be motivated by this claimed bias.
There are plenty of settlements with "no one admits wrongdoing" where there was clear wrongdoing; it just saves everyone involved a costly legal battle, and some face.
The Japanese prosecution is easily 100% political; any actual crimes they found are pure coincidence. As for myself, I am much more upset by a corrupt and politicized judiciary in charge of a major first-world nation than I am by dubious business deals, just one case of the many they will handle.
(And further note that Ghosn was while still in jail in Japan while he settled with the SEC, with very little access to his lawyers... and, of course, no trial date set, because who needs a "right to a speedy trial" anyway?)
There are smells coming from both sides of this dispute.
There are also the funds paid to companies affiliated with his wife and son. Both Nissan and Renault’s Boards found these surprising, which is ultimately why he lost the latter’s support.
There are smells on both sides. The simplest explanation is Ghosn is dirty and the Japanese criminal justice system is biased. The fact that the former is now an international fugitive somewhat simplifies his criminality in most jurisdictions.
Ghosn exploited his position and muddied waters. He paid himself 3 CEO salaries and yet continuously claimed to be under paid.
To claim Nissan, an entity Ghosn controlled, was somehow equally as guilty is what-about-ism.
There was a fun incident in the UN where an ambassador from Japan made a remark that Japan's justice system was modern and exemplary. Everyone in the room just laughed at him. (He got upset, and told everyone to shut up, and then got fired for his outburst.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYfHWsWJhtg
_Death Note_ is a documentary.
>And the list goes on and on...
As if that specific item above is something special? Tons of execs do just the same, and nobody bats an eye.
Some people at Nissan/Japan wanted to get the "outsider"...
Nissan was paying all or some of the costs at some amount of US$18 million for residences used by Ghosn in Rio de Janeiro, Beirut, Paris and Amsterdam, and Ghosn charged family vacation expenses to the company
sound like pure BS ... that the CEO of a company that sells 10 million cars per year charged a family vacation ... none of us are aware of what his contract states, what he was promised etc.
Jumping on the "criminal CEO" bandwagon is tiring stuff. MY hat off to Mr. Gosh, not only did he manage well three gigantic companies, he managed himself just as well, skipped the BS charges and got himself out of Japan. That's a genius manager right there.
Part of me thinks there is a chance that maybe this kind of financial misdeed is not all too uncommon, and it may indeed be a case of "it's not a problem unless you're a problem." but given the scope of money and questionable expenses already tied to him, it doesn't seem like fabrication or embellishment is needed.
I feel like what I get from this story is, if you were looking to get Carlos Ghosn out, you didn't have too look too hard.
They must be relieved that he didn't fly to France as that would have been quite embarrassing for them. He probably calculated that he was safest in Lebanon, though.
Inconsequential nitpick: I'm not even sure this is a position formalized by anything, IIRC it is more like a tradition, although a very consistent one. But there have been a few exceptions, btw, like Aurore Martin extradited to Spain while Manuel Valls was the minister of interior, but this was in the context of a European arrest warrant (however, this was for a political issue, so it could have been easily blocked by the executive instead of authorized).
European arrest warrants are different in that they operate under the idea of European citizenship, and that member countries have compatible and comparable legal frameworks. Also the ultimate authority is with the ECJ and ECHR, same as if the accused was tried locally.
> however, this was for a political issue, so it could have been easily blocked by the executive instead of authorized
As I understand it, the executive typically has the power to decide whether an (actual, international) extradition should go forward or not after the judiciary has decided that someone _can_ be extradited. After all, it's a matter of international relations.
But European arrest warrants are different, precisely because relations between member countries are not a matter of executive power. Instead, that authority lies in European institutions. In this case, either government would have had to refer to the ECJ if they did not agree.
- Pathfinder 4x4, a capable cult loved offroader, now a luxury SUV
- Navara Utility vehicle, industry and consumer favorite - Now a gigantic Americanized "truck" unwanted by other markets, and better served in America by local manufacturers
- Skyline, middle market sports Car variants, inspired a generation of enthusiasts, now pedestrian cars on a slow platform, and an entirely separate franchise of unaffordable supercars
- Silvia affordable sports cars - as above, but with no replacement
- Stagea sports family wagon - no replacement
- Maxima/Pintara/Ciefro/Laurel affordable family cars - Somehow now their flagship aimed at people who would rather a Eurocar
Their only line I think will continue to be successful is the Leaf. But I suspect EVs are going to be getting pretty competitive over the next decade.
It would be sad to see them go, but I also don't think we'll be missing out on anything from their future if now was when they died.
This is from a Nissan fanboy. I have had 7 Nissans. At one point I had a Nissan to tow my Nissan to go race other Nissans. I've downsized, and now have just the one car and some bicycles.
This is among the reasons Ghosn was proposing a merger: the alliance was supposed to help them share R&D costs, particularly on electric vehicles, but they weren't doing nearly enough on that front.
The new Leaf is arguably over priced, spec/price wise.
It has been interesting to gain a little insight into how pernicious the Japanese judiciary can be though.
The story of the artist Megumi Igarashi is especially funny (yet also disturbingly sexist)...
Ghosn though, is far from funny. But fleeing the country is a pretty sketchy response to a criminal charge.
He was facing a 20 year prison sentence in a country with a 99.7% conviction rate. The trial was to take place later this year. He's 65 years old. I have no idea whether he's guilty of the charges but the reality of the situation he faced was that his only two choices were flee now or likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
> In September, in one of the first legal accords of the saga, Ghosn settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over claims of failing to disclose more than $140 million in pay to him from Nissan. He was fined $1 million while Nissan was fined $15 million and Greg Kelly $100,000. He is barred from serving as a director or officer of a public company for ten years and Kelly for five years
Even in the US he was caught.
He used company funds for himself. It's pretty clear. If an average man would have done that he would have been paying it already, but he is a rich man so he could escape.
It's been reported he oversaw accounting irregularities regarding his compensation i.e. fancy embezzelment with Nissan which is why there is a warrant for his arrest.
It's hard to infer what might have happened. Leading up to his arrest in Japan there were mentions that he had treated his co-officers in a "un-Japanese" way and was suspected to have lead to his being targeted to be removed.
It's also interesting how this how debacle has caused Nissan to suffer. It really seems like Nissan was about to turn around their design and car interiors (the new Maxima, Altima, Sentra, and Versa have gotten big boosts) and then this hits them hard.
I hope Nissan pulls through and I hope the truth about Ghosn comes out.