Related News
Now Nissan is set to be pulled over by police
Print Edition
Japanese authorities have extended Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn’s detention by 10 days, as it emerged the car giant itself could face charges over the alleged financial misconduct that laid low its once-loved leader.
Prosecutors are stepping up their investigation over allegations that the 64-year-old Brazil-born auto tycoon under-reported his pay by about 5 billion yen (US$44.5 million).
Prosecutors had 48 hours after his arrest to either press formal charges, release him or request this 10-day custody extension to continue the probe.
Ghosn is being held in a detention centre in northern Tokyo in conditions far removed from his flashy lifestyle.
“In principle, he will be all alone in a cell,” lawyer Ayano Kanezuka said.
The crisis appeared to be going from bad to worse for Nissan, as the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that prosecutors believe the firm also had a case to answer.
Nissan’s board will decide today whether to remove him as chairman.
Ghosn’s fate appears all but sealed after his hand-picked replacement as CEO, Hiroto Saikawa, launched an astonishing broadside at his mentor.
He said “too much authority” had been placed in his hands and lamented the “dark side of the Ghosn era.”
Renault said it was sticking with the fallen manager as chief executive but named Chief Operating Officer Thierry Bollore as deputy CEO.
Nissan shares bounced back marginally on the Tokyo stocks exchange, after plunging following Ghosn’s arrest.
Ghosn appeared to have some support on the streets of Tokyo.
“I think this is someone who was able to do what we Japanese, stuck in our ways, were not able to do,” passer-by Yoshiaki Watanabe said.
Under his stewardship, Nissan and Renault became entwined. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan while in turn the Japanese firm has a 15 percent stake in Renault.
Nissan has become the alliance’s key player however, posting sales of 12 trillion yen last year compared with Renault’s 59 billion euros (US$67 billion).
Ghosn was reportedly working on a merger of the two carmakers that Nissan opposed because it feared the Japanese company could be relegated to a secondary role.
Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan, said Ghosn was “a victim of his own hubris and success.”
“He trampled on Japanese cultural norms with his flamboyant glory-hogging ways, and his massive compensation incited jealousies and invited retaliation,” he said.
Local media reported that some compensation due to other executives reportedly ended up going to Ghosn, although it is not clear how the scheme worked.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that Nissan had paid “huge sums” to provide Ghosn with luxury homes in Rio de Janeiro, Beirut, Paris and Amsterdam “without any legitimate business reason.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
