According to Ghosn, he was the victim of a collusion between Nissan managers in 2018. This led to suspension and arrest, which ultimately caused “significant damage” to the financial situation and reputation of the entrepreneur. “Serious accusations against me will remain in the memory of people for many years,” the ex-head of the auto company said in the lawsuit.
He stressed that “he will suffer from them for the rest of his life, since the accusations are of a continuous nature, despite the fact that they are based only on suspicions.” It is known that Ghosn filed a lawsuit on May 18, the document was at the disposal of Bloomberg. According to the agency, the amount of the claim, which exceeds $1 billion, consists of compensation for lost profits and expenses ($588 million), as well as punitive damages ($500 million). According to the plaintiff, this amount is “just a small response” to the harm caused to him.
A hearing in Lebanon is reportedly scheduled for September. At the same time, Nissan itself claims that no lawsuits have been filed with the organization, the company also refused to comment on the situation with Ghosn.
Carlos Ghosn was a successful top manager. In Japan, comics were published about him, and in Lebanon, postage stamps were issued with his image. In other countries, his experience was described in books, and his strategies and business cases were analyzed in universities.
His career ended abruptly in the fall of 2018 when Ghosn arrived in Japan for a Nissan board meeting. The entrepreneur was taken into custody immediately after he landed at the airport. The reason was allegations of financial irregularities. According to investigators, he concealed an income of $74 million and also used Nissan money for personal purposes.
After the charges were filed, Ghosn faced up to 10 years in prison in Japan. Since acquittals are only 1% in the country, the 65-year-old businessman decided to escape.
For this purpose, he chose a good time – New Year’s Eve, when law enforcement officers also celebrate holidays. In favor of Ghosn, the fact that in Japan they do not put an electronic bracelet on an arrested person played. Subsequently, journalists learned that Ghosn left Japan on a business jet, on board of which he got in a case for transporting concert equipment. Then he made a transfer in Istanbul and flew to Lebanon on another plane. The Company previously wrote in detail about the escape of the millionaire.
In July 2021, a Tokyo court sentenced two Americans, Michael Taylor and his son Peter, to prison for helping Ghosn escape. Taylor Sr. was sentenced to two years in prison, his son four months less. They both pleaded guilty. For facilitating the escape of the ex-head of the automobile alliance, they were paid 1.36 million dollars, the investigation found out. Both were detained in the States and extradited to Japan on an extradition request (the arrested tried to challenge this decision, but the US Supreme Court rejected their request).
In addition, in the fall of 2020, UN representatives concluded that the detention of the former chairman of the board of directors of the Nissan concern Carlos Ghosn was unreasonable. Against this background, the panel of experts decided that the Japanese government should compensate him for the damage.
After Gon, the company was headed by the Japanese Hiroto Saikawa. Under him, at the end of 2019, Nissan’s operating profit fell by 99%. Net income then fell by 95%. These figures are the lowest since 2008. In the company, such figures were explained by the general decline in the automotive market.
But in the future, the situation did not improve either: global sales fell from 4.06 million cars in 2021 to 3.23 million in 2022 – a drop of 20.7%.
As part of the anti-crisis program, Nissan laid off 12,500 people – about 9% of employees. Today, however, Nissan plans to continue developing electric vehicles and self-driving cars.
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