Nissan Chairman Held for Suspected 'financial Misconduct'

Tokyo [Japan], Nov 19 (ANI): Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of the alliance of Nissan Motor Company, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Renault was on Monday arrested for allegedly violating financial laws.

The Japan Times quoted sources saying that the 64-year-old was questioned by Tokyo prosecutors over suspicions of under-reporting his income.

In a statement, Nissan confirmed it had been conducting internal investigations over the alleged wrongdoings by Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly based on a tip-off by a whistleblower for several months. Both are tipped to be sacked from the positions they hold.

"The investigation showed that over many years both Ghosn and Kelly have been reporting compensation amounts in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report that were less than the actual amount, in order to reduce the disclosed amount of Carlos Ghosn's compensation," the statement read.

"Also, in regards to Ghosn, numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered, such as personal use of company assets, and Kelly's deep involvement has also been confirmed," it added.

The statement also confirmed that Nissan had been fully cooperating with the prosecutor's probes and was also providing them information.

"As the misconduct uncovered through our internal investigation constitutes clear violations of the duty of care as directors, Nissan's Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa will propose to the Nissan Board of Directors to promptly remove Ghosn from his positions as Chairman and Representative Director. Saikawa will also propose the removal of Greg Kelly from his position as Representative Director," the statement read.

Apologising to its stakeholders, Nissan in a statement said, "Nissan deeply apologizes for causing great concern to our shareholders and stakeholders. We will continue our work to identify our governance and compliance issues, and to take appropriate measures."

Ghosn's salary in 2017 (730 million Yen) witnessed a 33 per cent dip from his 2016 salary (1.09 billion Yen). It was the first time in four years that his salary fell below the one billion Yen mark.

Ghosn's reputation as one of the world's top executives was built on him spearheading Nissan's turnaround from near-bankruptcy. He was appointed as their chief operating officer in 1999 and was tasked with reviving the car manufacturer's fortunes following the alliance with Renault.

The alliance sold 5.54 million vehicles in the first half of 2018, a five per cent bump from last year and marginally more than the sales of the combined vehicle sales of rivals Volkswagen group, who sold 5.52 million vehicles. Volkswagen had sold the highest number of vehicles in 2017 and 2016. (ANI)

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