Nissan board was promised full report on accused chairman. Instead, it only got a summary
Michigan State University Law Professor Frank Ravitch on the Japanese judicial system and the allegations against former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Nissan board members reportedly received a five-page summary, but not the full internal investigation into allegations of financial impropriety against former Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn at the most recent directors meeting on Monday.
Nissan said in a press release that it did not release the full report because it was “highly sensitive” and because the company wanted to “avoid jeopardizing any forthcoming legal actions.” Board members were reportedly told that there had not been enough time to make copies of the full report, but they still had not received a copy of the full report by Wednesday.
In November 2018, Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo on charges of not reporting compensation and misappropriating Nissan assets for his own purposes. Having already relinquished his role as CEO in 2017, Ghosn was then removed from his position as chairman of Nissan by the board. Ghosn was re-arrested on April 4, again in Tokyo, on new charges related to financial misconduct while at Nissan. Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing.
In the summary of the report, Nissan states that Ghosn "made arrangements to avoid disclosure by Nissan of compensation exceeding an estimated total of 20 billion yen [$185.6 million dollars] . . . Furthermore, the investigation determined that Ghosn directed, or intended to direct, a total of at least 15 billion yen [139.2 million dollars] in improper expenditures by Nissan under pretexts other than compensation."
Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview with Reuters at Nissan's global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
At the aforementioned meeting Monday, Nissan board members requested and received the resignation of current CEO Hiroto Saikawa for receiving excess compensation he was not entitled to. Saikawa denied knowing about or participating in any impropriety in receiving this excess compensation and offered to pay it back. Nissan said in its summary that he was not culpable for what had occurred.
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Nissan's spokesperson in North America directed media inquiries about this matter to the media relations ofice of the company's headquarters in Japan. And Nissan's spokesperson in Japan could not immediately be reached for comment.