[tarik.arora]

The latest charges will hold Ghosn in custody for 10 days, with an option to extend the detention by 10 more days. Things are surely getting messy for Nissan and Ghosn. The India business is not impacted by this as they are already in a mess (volumes down to sub 3,000 units).

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Carlos Ghosn Re-Arrested For Breach Of Trust, No Chance Of Bail - have issued a fresh arrest warrant for 10 more days.

Details on the charge of re-arrest.

- Carlos Ghosn is allegedly to have used company funds to pay a Saudi businessman who is believed to have helped him out of financial difficulties

-Thus accusing him of aggravated breach of trust in transferring personal investment losses to the automaker.

-Around October 2008, Ghosn was trying to deal with losses on paper of 1.85 billion yen ($16.6 million) incurred on a swap contract he had with a bank which it did not name

-A person helped arrange a letter of credit for Ghosn and a company run by the person later received $14.7 million in Nissan funds in four installments between 2009 and 2012, adding that the payments were made in Ghosn's and the person's interests

By doing so, (Ghosn) behaved in a way that breached trust, and inflicted damage on the property of Nissan". The statement also said Ghosn had earlier sought to have Nissan shoulder the appraisal losses directly.

the person who helped Ghosn is Khaled Al-Juffali, vice chairman of one of Saudi Arabia's largest conglomerates, E. A. Juffali and Brothers, and a member of the board at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority

He is also majority owner of a company called Al-Dahana which owns half of a regional joint venture called Nissan Gulf with the other half held by a wholly owned unit of Nissan Motor.

Link

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Details on the charge of re-arrest.

He is also majority owner of a company called Al-Dahana which owns half of a regional joint venture called Nissan Gulf with the other half held by a wholly owned unit of Nissan Motor.

Will be very difficult to prove, there are large holdbacks in the Automotive industry, it is the norm. No one is going to pay a cent to anyone without proper documentation in any company especially such large. So they will have supporting documents. It will take them ages to establish if at all there were kickbacks to the Ghosn by this or any other company. Ghosn would not be so foolish to issue any Dealer or trading partner monies from the company and simply ask them to take care of his debts.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Details on the charge of re-arrest.

The more I've been reading about it, the more I'm convinced that Carlos Ghosn definitely had shady financial dealings within Nissan. Even this WSJ article lightly touched upon it.

Improper? I definitely think so. Sure didn't help that he had created so many enemies at Nissan. He gave them an opportunity to pounce on him & the Japanese sure haven't pulled any punches. Over a month in jail would've been unthinkable for previously-untouchable Ghosn.

[tarik.arora]

Originally Posted by tarik.arora

The latest charges will hold Ghosn in custody for 10 days, with an option to extend the detention by 10 more days. Things are surely getting messy for Nissan and Ghosn. The India business is not impacted by this as they are already in a mess (volumes down to sub 3,000 units).

As expected, Ghosn's detention has been extended till 11 Jan. Just read this news at multiple sources. From Ghosn to Gone

[GTO]

As always, a fantastic article by NYTimes . A rare publication that I happily pay a subscription fee to:

Carlos Ghosn was tired. At 64 years old, the chairman of an auto empire that spanned several continents and included Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi wasn’t bouncing back from jet lag the way he used to. Melatonin wasn’t working anymore, and he had bouts of insomnia, phoning his children in the middle of the night or going on long walks around his Tokyo or Paris neighborhood. He planned to retire soon, stepping back from spending his life on an airplane, albeit a luxurious one paid for by Nissan.

Last month, just before Thanksgiving weekend, Mr. Ghosn headed to Tokyo to meet his youngest daughter and her boyfriend and attend a board meeting. He was scheduled to land at Haneda Airport at 4 p.m.

The daughter, Maya Ghosn, 26, had spent most of her childhood in Japan and wanted to introduce her boyfriend, Patrick, to her favorite places. Bringing a boyfriend home is a common rite of passage, but a particularly intimidating prospect when growing up Ghosn — a child of one of the most romanticized and ruthless chief executives the global business community has ever seen.

Ms. Ghosn had made a 7:30 dinner reservation at Jiro, the Michelin-starred sushi counter hidden in a basement in the city’s Ginza district.

On the tarmac in Beirut, Lebanon, Mr. Ghosn opened WhatsApp and texted his four children on a group chain labeled “Game of Ghosns,” for his favorite TV show, “Game of Thrones,” the bloody HBO drama about dynasties under siege. “On my way to Tokyo! Love you guys!” Mr. Ghosn texted as his jet lifted off.

He never made it to dinner.

[volkman10]

Japanese prosecutors rarely risk a not-guilty verdict. Fewer than 1 percent of cases in Japan's district and county courts in 2017 resulted in a not-guilty verdict or the defendant being released.

What comes next for Ghosn ?

His current detention period will end Jan. 11. By then, prosecutors will need to announce whether they intend to indict him officially on the charges of breach of trust, which they likely will do. If he is indicted, Ghosn will be legally allowed to apply for bail — a decision which will be made by the court and can be appealed by prosecutors

There is also the possibility that Ghosn may be rearrested on new charges, which will start the detention period anew and allow prosecutors to hold him for up to another 20 days.

How long is this going to go on?

There's no clear answer to this. In Japan, the powers given to police and prosecutors to incarcerate suspects during an investigation without charging them are unique

Source:

[tarik.arora]

Ghosn appeared in court for the first time as he has challenged the court on his detention. He was given a 10 minute window to narrate his side of the story. His wordings, as picked from an article on Factiva.

Your Honour,

I am grateful to finally have the opportunity to speak publicly. I look forward to beginning the process of defending myself against the accusations that have been made against me.

First, let me say that I have a genuine love and appreciation for Nissan. I believe strongly that in all of my efforts on behalf of the company, I have acted honorably, legally, and with the knowledge and approval of the appropriate executives inside the company -- with the sole purpose of supporting and strengthening Nissan, and helping to restore its place as one of Japan's finest and most respected companies.

Now I would like to address the allegations.

1. The FX Forward contracts

When I first joined Nissan and moved to Japan almost 20 years ago, I wanted to be paid in U.S. dollars, but was told that that was not possible and was given an employment contract that required me to be paid in Japanese yen. I have long been concerned about the volatility of the yen relative to the U.S. dollar. I am a U.S. dollar-based individual -- my children live in the U.S. and I have strong ties to Lebanon, whose currency has a fixed exchange rate against the U.S. dollar. I wanted predictability in my income in order to help me take care of my family.

To deal with this issue, I entered into foreign exchange contracts throughout my tenure at Nissan, beginning in 2002. Two such contracts are at issue in this proceeding. One was signed in 2006, when the Nissan stock price was around 1,500 yen and the yen/dollar rate was around 118. The other was signed in 2007, when the Nissan stock price was around 1,400 yen and the yen/dollar exchange rate was around 114.

The 2008-2009 financial crisis caused Nissan's shares to plummet to 400 yen in October 2008 and to 250 yen in February 2009 (down more than 80% from its peak) and the yen/dollar exchange rate dropped below 80. It was a perfect storm that no one predicted. The entire banking system was frozen, and the bank asked for an immediate increase in my collateral on the contracts, which I could not satisfy on my own.

I was faced with two stark choices:

1. Resign from Nissan, so that I could receive my retirement allowance, which I could then use to provide the necessary collateral. But my moral commitment to Nissan would not allow me to step down during that crucial time; a captain doesn't jump ship in the middle of a storm.

2. Ask Nissan to temporarily take on the collateral, so long as it came to no cost to the company, while I gathered collateral from my other sources.

I chose option 2. The FX contracts were then transferred back to me without Nissan incurring any loss.

2. E (sic)

E (sic) has been a long-time supporter and partner of Nissan. During a very difficult period, D Company (sic) helped Nissan solicit financing and helped Nissan solve a complicated problem involving a local distributor -- indeed, E (sic) helped Nissan restructure struggling distributors throughout the Gulf region, enabling Nissan to better compete with rivals like Toyota, which was outperforming Nissan. E (sic) also assisted Nissan in negotiating the development of a manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia, organizing high-level meetings with Saudi officials.

D Company (sic) was appropriately compensated -- an amount disclosed to and approved by the appropriate officers at Nissan -- in exchange for these critical services that substantially benefited Nissan.

3. The FIEL Allegations

Four major companies sought to recruit me while I was CEO of Nissan, including Ford (by Bill Ford) and General Motors (by Steve Rattner, the then-Car Czar under President Barack Obama). Even though their proposals were very attractive, I could not in good conscience abandon Nissan while we were in the midst of our turnaround. Nissan is an iconic Japanese company that I care about deeply. Although I chose not to pursue the other opportunities, I did keep a record of the market compensation for my role, which those companies offered me if I had taken these jobs. This was an internal benchmark that I kept for my own future reference -- it had no legal effect; it was never shared with the directors; and it never represented any kind of binding commitment. In fact, the various proposals for non-compete and advisory services post-retirement made by some members of the board did not reflect or reference my internal calculations, underscoring their hypothetical, non-binding

nature.

Contrary to the accusations made by the prosecutors, I never received any compensation from Nissan that was not disclosed, nor did I ever enter into any binding contract with Nissan to be paid a fixed amount that was not disclosed. Moreover, I understood that any draft proposals for post-retirement compensation were reviewed by internal and external lawyers, showing I had no intent to violate the law. For me, the test is the "death test": if I died today, could my heirs require Nissan to pay anything other than my retirement allowance? The answer is an unequivocal "No."

4. Contribution to Nissan

I have dedicated two decades of my life to reviving Nissan and building the Alliance. I worked toward these goals day and night, on the earth and in the air, standing shoulder to shoulder with hardworking Nissan employees around the globe, to create value. The fruits of our labors have been extraordinary.

- We transformed Nissan, moving it from a position of a debt of 2 trillion yen in 1999 to cash of 1.8 trillion yen at the end of 2006, from 2.5 million cars sold in 1999 at a significant loss to 5.8 million cars sold profitably in 2016. Nissan's asset base tripled during the period.

- We saw:

- The revival of icons like the Fairlady Z and Nissan G-TR;

- Nissan's industrial entry into Wuhon, China, St. Petersburg, Russia, Chennai, India, and Resende, Brazil;

- The pioneering of a mass market for electric cars with the Leaf;

- The jumpstarting of autonomous cars;

- The introduction of Mitsubishi Motors to the Alliance; and

- The Alliance becoming the number one auto group in the world in 2017, producing more than 10 million cars annually.

- We created, directly and indirectly, countless jobs in Japan and reestablished Nissan as a pillar of the Japanese economy.

These accomplishments -- secured alongside the peerless team of Nissan employees worldwide -- are the greatest joy of my life, next to my family.

5. Conclusion

Your Honor, I am an innocent (sic) of the accusations made against me. I have always acted with integrity and have never been accused of any wrongdoing in my several-decade professional career. I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations.

Thank you, your Honor, for listening to me.

[volkman10]

More on Ghosn's appearance today.




-Nissan chairman, entered the Tokyo District Court morning in handcuffs, wearing a dark suit with no tie and green plastic slippers

-Appeared in court looking thinner and with sunken cheeks. He appeared to have lost weight and his hair was graying at the roots.

Ghosn has also been granted a bigger space in the Tokyo detention center, along with a western-style bed, instead of a futon mattress on the floor of a cramped cell

But Ghosn has still been denied visits from family members and his own lawyers get only limited access. Investigators, by contrast, can interrogate him at length in the absence of his attorneys

At a press conference held after the hour-and-a-half hearing, lead defense attorney Motonari Otsuru conceded his client would likely be indicted for a second time on Friday and be denied bail, keeping him locked up. Ghosn’s case, he predicted, might not got to trial for another six months.

Link

[volkman10]

Ghosn slapped with two more indictments in Japan, further complicating the legal battle facing the jailed auto executive.

The first of the two new indictments alleges that Ghosn temporarily shifted personal securities losses to Nissan, in a special breach of trust case. As part of the charge, prosecutors also claim Ghosn then arranged for Nissan to pay an associate who helped him with the red ink.

The second of the new indictments is related to an earlier indictment handed down Dec. 10. It accuses Ghosn, fellow director Greg Kelly and Nissan as a company of falsifying securities filings by under-reported Ghosn’s compensation in the fiscal years 2015-2017.

Prosecutors said that Ghosn’s detention could last for another two months.

Link

[tarik.arora]

After Ghosn's bail getting rejected twice in the last week, he has again filed a bail plea. This time he has promised to commit to anything and everything that the court demands.

He has even agreed to wear a electronic tracking device so that he is traceable all the time and will hire security personnel at his own cost, who can keep an eye on him.

Looks like a very desperate attempt to come out on bail and I second his initiatives. The Japan's law system is one of the worst when it comes to getting bail, more true for people who do not admit to their crimes. Let us hope that he gets a bail this time. The court will pass on its judgement today.

[avira_tk]

I can't imagine this happening if this was a Japanese CEO accused of fraud. There would be a bowing and apologizing ceremony and the fraud would be buried.

This is just vendetta, try this with an American CEO and things would be very different. The Japanese are tired of playing second fiddle in the alliance and it shows.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

I can't imagine this happening if this was a Japanese CEO accused of fraud. There would be a bowing and apologizing ceremony and the fraud would be buried.

This is just vendetta, try this with an American CEO and things would be very different. The Japanese are tired of playing second fiddle in the alliance and it shows.

I have read about Japan that that they will forgive if you do something for your company but not for yourself. Not for personal greed.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by tarik.arora

Looks like a very desperate attempt to come out on bail and i second his initiatives. The Japan's law system is one of the worst when it comes to getting bail, more true for people who do not admit to their crimes. Let us hope that he gets a bail this time. The court will pass on its judgement today.

Guilty or not, but this is just sad that a developed nation has such brutal justice system where the defendant can't even get bail for months. And that too for a non-violent crime.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

This is just vendetta, try this with an American CEO and things would be very different. The Japanese are tired of playing second fiddle in the alliance and it shows.

When you say its Vendetta, are you implying that he is innocent and being framed for a crime he did not commit?


I find it very far fetched that any prosecutor would go to such an extent unless they had very strong reasons to suspect wrong doing.