Here's a piece on how the case is putting a spotlight on the Japanese justice system. Ghosn detention extended over Christmas and New Year, putting Japan’s justice system under the microscope
Thanks for that link, Domenick. The report at that Japanese news site casts the accusations against Ghosn in what appears to me to be a considerably more serious light: Authorities are pursuing three separate lines of inquiry against the 64-year-old Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian executive. They suspect he conspired with his right-hand man, U.S. executive Greg Kelly, to hide around half of his income (some ¥5 billion or $44 million) over five fiscal years from 2010. They also allege he under-reported his salary to the tune of ¥4 billion over the next three fiscal years — apparently to avoid criticism that his pay was too high. The third allegation is that he shifted a personal investment loss made at the height of the financial crisis worth more than $16 million to the Japanese automaker. But let's remember that at present, these are only allegations, not proof. The fact that Renault has (at least so far) kept him on, rather than firing him, suggests to me that there are serious questions about what may be mostly or entirely trumped-up charges.
Also remember Ghosn hasn't received any of the money in dispute in the first two charges. At this time it's all future compensation.
Nissan may consider selling Renault shares. https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/nissan-revises-cross-shrholding-policy-in-corp-governance-code#gs.ztXyV=M
Prosecutors lost their appeal to deny Kelly bail. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Nissan-s-Ghosn-crisis/Ghosn-aide-Kelly-released-on-bail-over-1-month-after-arrest
Interesting, considering Ghosn is still on the board of directors of Nissan. https://japantoday.com/category/crime/nissan-asks-staff-not-to-contact-ousted-chairman-ghosn-aide-kelly
Does this make sense to anyone? What could "hundreds" of staff possibly contribute to investigating an accusation of a couple of executives engaging in failure to report income for tax purposes, or even -- according to one accusation -- actively hiding some of that income and engaging in what some might call "creative accounting"? This story gets more bizarre by the day.
20 years of financial records to go through. Personally I would have thought you’d get an impartial outside auditor to do that.
Yeah, an outside auditor, possibly working with (or for) one or more forensic accountants. But that's because we would want to see objective, unbiased evidence. Looks like Nissan isn't at all interested in that!
Ghosns children believe his arrest is part of a coupe. https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/carlos-ghosns-daughters-see-a-nissan-revolt-behind-his-arrest/articleshow/67300240.cms
Ghosn's detention without trial extended for another ten days through to Jan 11. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Tokyo-court-approves-detention-of-ex-Nissan-boss-Ghosn-until-Jan.-11
Ghosn transferred 50 million from the CEO reserve to two other Middle East Nissan dealers. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Nissan-s-Ghosn-crisis/Ghosn-paid-2-more-acquaintances-48m-with-Nissan-money
Ghosn has requested a court appearance to force the prosecutors disclose the reasons for his detention. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Ghosn-set-for-Jan.-8-court-appearance
Ghosns detention continuing to impact Nissan's promotion activities. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Nissan-s-Ghosn-crisis/Nissan-s-executive-Munoz-takes-leave-of-absence-in-wake-of-Ghosn-arrest
Informative article here with quotes from Ghosns son. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/ex-nissan-boss-carlos-ghosn-to-vigorously-defend-himself-says-11092042
Ghosn denies all allegations in court. https://www.ft.com/content/2e0f7724-12e8-11e9-a581-4ff78404524e