Twist in the Renault-Nissan affair. The former president of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, has left Japan and taken refuge in Lebanon. Through his attorneys, he stated that he was not fleeing justice but rather trying to avoid "injustice and political persecution."
The former Nissan president, who had been under house arrest in Tokyo since April 25, after being held in prison, awaiting trial for industrial and tax fraud. He did not provide details on how he exited Japan but promised to speak to reporters soon.
“I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese judicial system in which guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan's legal obligations under international law and the treaties it is bound to uphold,” a statement read.
Ghosn's story begins in 2018 with his arrest for fraud against the car company of which he was president. Between 2010 and 2015, the magistrates say, he would have set aside a black treasure, behind Renault and Nissan, estimated at a few million euros. Crazy spending has also characterized the management of him. According to the reconstruction of La Repubblica "the 50 euros of "personal benefits" - as the French car manufacturer's report writes - spent to celebrate his wedding and his new wife's 50th birthday at the Château de Versailles, with a strictly period-inspired dress code of Marie Antoinette. Event paid for at the foot of the list by a subsidiary of the company. Or the luxury apartments he would have taken with company funds in Rio, Beirut and Amsterdam, the invitations to friends and relatives to the Rio Carnival, various suspicious consultations received from people close to him. Renault's investigations have identified unclear transactions in both the Dutch and Omani branches that may have diverted at least $16 million to Ghosn's accounts.
After fleeing to Lebanon, of which Carlos Ghosn is a citizen (he also has French and Brazilian nationality), the Japanese prosecutor asked the Tokyo District Court to revoke the probation of the manager who, it was learned, was not under house arrest as previously reported. The Japanese media reported it, explaining that if the court accepts the request, the probation will be canceled and the bail of 1,5 billion yen (12,3 million euros) will be confiscated.
Updated January 1, 2020 at 9.46am
