Fallen auto industry magnate Carlos Ghosn arrived in Beirut, Lebanon on Monday December 30, according to information from France 24. The former boss of Renault and Nissan was however under house arrest in Tokyo, Japan, where he is facing four charges of corruption.
The man who was hailed as "the savior of Nissan" after his arrival in the group in 1999 was arrested on November 19, 2018 upon his arrival in the Japanese capital. Carlos Ghosn spent a total of 130 days in pre-trial detention.
Released on bail in the spring, he was under house arrest in Tokyo. Japanese justice had rejected all requests to relax the conditions of his bail, including a ban on contacting his wife.
Carlos Ghosn is facing four charges: two for deferred income not declared to the stock exchange authorities by Nissan (who is also being sued on this aspect), and two for aggravated breach of trust. His defense denies any embezzlement. "The charges against Mr. Ghosn are the result of an unlawful collusion between prosecutors, members of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) and Nissan executives, who have formed a ' "secret task force charged with seeking to artificially attribute wrongdoing to Carlos Ghosn," his lawyers said in a press release last October.
According to them, the objective of this maneuver was clear: "to dismiss Mr. Ghosn to prevent him from carrying out a reinforced integration between Nissan and Renault, which would have threatened the autonomy of one of the jewels of Japanese industry , passed under the French flag ".
Carlos Ghosn was ejected from his seats as president of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors (3rd member of the alliance) in the days following his arrest. He then resigned from Renault, even before other investigations were carried out in France against him. He and his lawyers also accuse Japanese investigators of having subcontracted part of their work to "consultants and executives of Nissan" in order to obtain documents prejudicial to the ex-boss of Renault.
Born in Brazil, of Lebanese origin and of French nationality, Carlos Ghosn began his career at Michelin, before joining Renault. He joined Nissan in 1999 after the French automaker acquired a stake in the Japanese group. He was CEO from 2001 to 2017.
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