On January 22, Tuesday, a court in Tokyo rejected former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn’s latest request for bail.
Shortly after Ghosn’s initial arrest back in November of 2018, he was ousted from the chairmanship of both Nissan and Mitsubishi. However, he remains CEO and chairman of their French partner Renault.
This new development puts pressure on Renault to find a suitable replacement for Ghosn in the company. The three-way auto alliance have been in turmoil since his arrest.
It was only a week ago that reports suggested that Carlos Ghosn might be facing a civil suit from Nissan after his arrest in Tokyo for allegedly using company funds for personal needs. He was charged with three counts of financial misconduct, and has been held at a detention center in Tokyo, Japan for almost two months.
ROAD TO THE AXE
Nissan has been proactive in the incarceration of Ghosn, as back in November 2018 the Japanese carmaker said that the then Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Carlos Ghosn will soon lose his post after allegations that he used company money for personal use and other acts of misconduct.
Earlier in June, when Renault shareholders approved Carlos Ghosn’s $8.5 million in compensation for 2017, they had not expected this to happen. He had also received 9.2 million euros in his final year as Nissan chief executive.
According to Nissan, it investigated what was alleged on a whistleblower report involving Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly. “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,” read the Nissan statement in November.
The carmaker also said that CEO Hiroto Saikawa would push for a proposal to the Nissan board to remove both Ghosn and Kelly.
The news of misconduct then sent shockwaves since it was outed as Ghosn who was responsible for saving Nissan from near bankruptcy and turning it around.