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04/04/2019

Japan Prosecutors Arrest Carlos Ghosn Again




Japan Prosecutors Arrest Carlos Ghosn Again
It was less than a month that former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who has been arrested again, had been granted bail. Ghosn was arrested from his home in Tokyo on early Thursday morning over fresh allegations of financial misconduct.
 
Ghosn, was also the former chief of the French company Renault, was granted bail and released early March following 108 days behind bars over charges of financial misconduct.
 
Ghosn’s re-arrest was mad done partially because of a rising possibility of evidence being destroyed by him, said a spokesman for the prosecutors during a press briefing on Thursday.
 
Ghosn has been accused of using Nissan funds for personal use by prosecutors. According the fresh allegations brought in by prosecutors, Nissan has sent payments multiple time between 2015 and 2018 to an overseas dealer who was actually under Ghosn’s control. According to prosecutors, this resulted in the company losing out about $5 million.
 
The name of the dealer or the place where he was based was not disclosed by the prosecutors' spokesman. According to reports published in several news agencies, Nissan had made questionable payments to a Nissan distributor in Oman while Ghoisn was the head of the company.
 
Trail on separate charges against Ghosn, who is the most famous icon of the modern global auto industry, of allegedly underreporting his income from Nissan for years and abusing his position in the company to by transferring his personal losses to the company, are yet to begin. All such charges brought against him have been denied by Ghosn.
 
"My arrest this morning is outrageous and arbitrary," Ghosn told the media through a spokesperson. "It is part of another attempt by some individuals at Nissan to silence me by misleading the prosecutors. Why arrest me except to try to break me? I will not be broken. I am innocent of the groundless charges and accusations against me."
 
The arrest was described to be "highly unusual” by Ghosn's lawyer and highlighted it as another instance of the manner in which suspects of criminal charges are treated in Japan.
 
Junichiro Hironaka told reporters through a translator that prosecutors are using Ghosn's detainment "to put pressure on the defendant". He added: "in that sense I think it is hostage justice".
 
Documents from Ghosn were confiscated by prosecutors, Hironaka said. The prosecutors are seized his wife’s, who was present in the house at the time, passport and mobile phone.  It was just a day ago the Ghosn had pledged on Twitter to hold a press conference next week to "tell the truth" that lies behind his shocking downfall.
 
On Wednesday, new allegations were unveiled against Ghosn by Renault and claimed that there were "questionable and concealed practices" in the expenses incurred by its former CEO and chairman which breached the ethics rules of the company. Ghosn's resignation from its board was announced by the car maker
 
The international car industry has been shocked by the down fall and prolonged arrest of Ghosn, and his arrest has also created tensions between Nissan and Renault, and puts Japan's criminal justice system under critical scrutiny.
 
(Source:www.bloomberg.com)

Christopher J. Mitchell

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