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An internal investigation at Nissan has found the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance boss lied to the Tokyo Stock Exchange to cover up his actual compensation. The company intends to have him removed.
An extraordinary press release issued late tonight by Nissan’s global headquarters in Japan has accused its own chairman, Carlos Ghosn, of violating Japanese financial law.
Japanese news outlet Yomiuri has reported that Ghosn has been arrested in Japan, although this is still to be verified. Nissan itself has not spoken of an arrest.
The company’s announcement states that a lengthy internal investigation has provided clear evidence that Ghosn, along with representative director Greg Kelly, had 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”.
News agency Kyodo reports that Ghosn is suspected of understating income by 5 billion yen over five years, or about AU$62 million.
The infractions are said to have occurred “over many years”.
Nissan claims its investigation has uncovered “other significant acts of misconduct”, including personal use of company assets. No other details on these offences have been offered at this stage.
The company is expected to oust Ghosn.
Through his leadership of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance, Ghosn led Nissan as CEO from 2009 to 2017, but stayed on as chairman after Hiroto Saikawa was tapped to succeed him as CEO.
It is Hiroto who will propose to the Nissan Board of Directors that Ghosn and Kelly be removed from their positions, with the investigation revealing “clear violations of the duty of care as directors”.
Nissan says it has been providing information to the Japanese Public Prosecutors Office and has been “fully cooperating” with its investigation.
At the time of publishing, Renault – which holds a 43.4 per cent voting stake in Nissan – has yet to announce if it will take action, although the French manufacturer’s Paris-listed shares have fallen 14 per cent since the news broke.
Mitsubishi, where Ghosn is also chairman, has yet to make a statement. Likewise, German company Daimler, which has a deep technology partnership with the alliance, has not commented.
We will update this story as it develops.
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