Nissan News: Tokyo Prosecutors Bring New Charges Forward Against Carlos Ghosn

[William Maley]

The dream of Carlos Ghosn spending the holidays outside of jail has been dashed. Early this morning in Tokyo, prosecutors re-arrested Ghosn on new charges that allege he shifted personal trades to Nissan to "make it responsible for 1.85 billion yen ($16.6 million) in appraisal losses," around October 2008. Prosecutors also allege that Ghosn had Nissan " deposit a total of $14.7 million on four occasions between June 2009 and March 2012 into a related bank account."

This re-arrest allows prosecutors to detain Ghosn for another 10 days to allow them to continue building their case against him. It may also hurt his chances of getting bail down the road. Lawyers for Ghosn declined to comment.

The new allegations would be in violation of Japan’s Companies Act and is seen as a more serious charge than under-reporting income. According to Bloomberg, Ghosn could be facing a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a 10 million yen fine (about $89,980).

“It’s a very serious charge. If there was a conviction, I think it would mean that there’s been a judgment that it’s more than just typical self-dealing corporate malfeasance but something that really harmed the company and was particularly malevolent in terms of the amount of planning that went into it,” said Colin Jones, a professor of law at Doshisha University in Kyoto.

Source: Bloomberg (Subscription Required)

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[G. David Felt]

I think Japanese saw him as a flight risk and have additional charges they will use to keep him in prison as we see new charges added every 10 days. Just a gut feeling on this.

[ocnblu]

This is pre-WWII Japan, thinking their crap doesn't stink.

[riviera74]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

This is pre-WWII Japan, thinking their crap doesn't stink.

Are you sure about that?  A lot of countries take this stuff seriously to keep high-flying executives from fleeing their country while under indictment. The USA has not be as diligent when it comes to financial crimes as it has been with violent crimes.

[Robert Hall]

Of course he's a flight risk...I'm surprised Renault didn't send a corporate jet to remove him.   Corrupt sleazeball.   Probably has cash stashed in the many cities around the world where he has apartments..

Edited December 21, 2018 by Robert Hall

[ocnblu]

Innocent until proven guilty.  It is very odd to me.  Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd?  Why hasn't Renault jumped on the bandwagon?  Why are they drumming up new charges after a judge was ready to release him?  So weird.

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Innocent until proven guilty.  It is very odd to me.  Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd?  Why hasn't Renault jumped on the bandwagon?  Why are they drumming up new charges after a judge was ready to release him?  So weird.

Renault such a Socialist corrupt place France is. Not surprised as they see it as business as usual compared to Asian countries honor. Clearly he stepped on some small toes bringing reaction to his abusive ways.

Judge releasing him is normal, also normal for prosecutors to keep digging to find new charges.

[ocnblu]

Asian countries honor?  Have you been reading about all the recent Japanese and Korean automotive related scandals where they've been caught with their pants down?  Pishposh.

[smk4565]

On 12/21/2018 at 6:16 PM, Robert Hall said:

Of course he's a flight risk...I'm surprised Renault didn't send a corporate jet to remove him.   Corrupt sleazeball.   Probably has cash stashed in the many cities around the world where he has apartments..

He probably has $14.7 million four times over hidden in different bank accounts in different countries.  

They better give him the 10 years in jail, I don’t think he is sweating the $89,000 fine.