Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn faces arrest for alleged financial misconduct

Nissan Motor Co. is seeking the removal of Chairman Carlos Ghosn after uncovering serious acts of misconduct by him. Ghosn is set to be arrested in Tokyo for violating financial trading law, as per Japanese media reports.

Ghosn has been arrested over the suspected breach of Japanese financial trading law. Nissan has been conducting an internal investigation over the past several months regarding misconduct involving Ghosn and director Greg Kelly, the Japanese automaker said in a statement.

The statement said, “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 automaker is cooperating with the authorities, providing information to the Japanese prosecutors. Meanwhile, Ghosn voluntarily went with Tokyo prosecutors. The development has led to shares of the carmaker falling as much as 14% in Paris, while Nissan global depository receipts sank more than 11%.

It is to be noted that Ghosn is among the most prominent car-industry executives globally and was instrumental in building the tripartite union of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. He has also been among the best paid executives in both Japan and France for several years, a topic which has drawn criticism as he receives numerous paychecks in his multiple roles as chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, CEO of Renault, and chairman of both Nissan and Mitsubishi.

The news comes as a shock as Ghosn is well regarded for having turned Nissan around from near bankruptcy. His ouster is bound to raise questions about the future of the alliance that he personally shaped and had pledged to consolidate with a deeper tie-up, before he eventually stepped back as its operational leader.

Image Credit: Al Jazeera