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TOKYO / PARIS – Former Nissan-Renault Alliance President Carlos Ghosn has confirmed his innocence in a video filmed before his fourth arrest in Japan on Thursday on new charges of improper use of the aircraft. 39, money companies.
"I call on the French government to defend me and preserve my rights as a citizen trapped in an incredible chain of events abroad," Ghosn told the chain LCI in a video call interview partially broadcast online Thursday.
"I'm ready for a fight, I'm innocent, it's difficult, you have to know it," he added.
The arrest of Thursday marks an escalation of the battle between the French-born Brazilian and Japanese prosecutors seeking to portray him as a rogue ruler who has turned Nissan Motor into his personal property.
Ghosn, who has maintained his innocence since his first arrest last November, has once again turned to the media to try to take control of the story. He was arrested a day after writing on his new Twitter account that he "will tell the truth about what's going on" at a press conference next week.
The Tokyo District Attorney's Office, meanwhile, is putting pressure on the former executive. While his first three arrests were based on slightly lighter allegations – such as the failure to report indemnities in the annual securities filings – this arrest involved suspicions of misappropriation of Nissan money into a bank account. controlled by Ghosn and directly caused damage to the builder.
The breakthrough for prosecutors came when they managed to identify the exact bank account used in the alleged ploy. At first, they struggled to gather evidence about transactions in the Middle East. But by consulting email and accounting documents provided by Nissan, they landed on an account controlled by a Lebanese company.
"Many lies are told, and these lies are revealed one after the other," Ghosn told LCI. "Not a single day, a single week, passes without new charges, many people in Nissan are the cause," he said, suggesting a conspiracy against him at the Japanese manufacturer.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told local BFM news channel Thursday that Mr Ghosn "should benefit from the presumption of innocence". The Mayor said his role was to ensure the good governance of Renault, owned 15% by the French state.
Ghosn recorded another video before his arrest, said Junichiro Hironaka, who heads the defense team of the former chief executive of the automobile. Hironaka did not specify when this video would be released.
The arrest of Ghosn while he is on bail is an extremely rare move for prosecutors.
"A cautious decision has been made on the basis of what can be definitively proven," said a prosecutor. "There is nothing here to complain."
A car carrying former Nissan president Carlos Ghosn arrives Thursday at the Tokyo Detention Center.
© Kyodo
Ghosn was already facing charges of financial misconduct involving an under-declaration of his indemnity for nine years and an aggravated breach of trust allegation that he allegedly transferred contract losses to Nissan. currency exchange. In the latter case, no real damage was inflicted on Nissan.
This time, the accusation of aggravated breach of trust actually indicates that Ghosn is affecting Nissan's money to an account that he controls himself.
Between December 2015 and July 2018, a total of $ 15 million was transferred from a Nissan subsidiary to Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, an Omani distributor headed by a Ghosn partner. The money was apparently for marketing expenses.
Prosecutors claim that about $ 5 million of this money was then paid into a bank account belonging to Good Faith Investments, an investment company in Lebanon on which Ghosn had substantial control. Ghosn's family is from Lebanon.
Good Faith Investments is also believed to have transferred funds to an American company run by Ghosn's son, said people close to the investigation.
Sources said the money would have been sent through several companies to the account controlled by Ghosn. This was to conceal the misconduct, according to prosecutors, who are continuing their investigation.
Ghosn, who was released on bail on March 6, after more than three months in detention, wrote on Twitter Wednesday that he was planning to hold a press conference on April 11. Hours later, he was taken to a detention center in Tokyo, where he will be banned. contact with friends and family.
Hironaka accused prosecutors of violating Ghosn's rights after confiscating documents and notebooks in his apartment in Tokyo, used to prepare his defense against previous charges. Prosecutors also took items belonging to Ghosn's wife, who is not under investigation.
"It's a violation of the rights of the defense," Hironaka said. "We wonder if this [confiscation] was the goal of prosecutors. This should not happen in a civilized country. "
Hironaka said that Tokyo prosecutors should request the detention of Ghosn tomorrow, and that the defense team appeal if this decision is approved. Ghosn could be detained for 20 days, in addition to the 108 days that he has already served.
Akiko Yamakawa, a lawyer at Vanguard Lawyers Tokyo, has questioned the arrest of Ghosn. Hironaka had already indicated that he would be ready to attend a voluntary hearing. "The" hostage justice "in Japan facilitates the investigation of prosecutors during the detention of Ghosn," said Mr. Yamakawa.
Ghosn was arrested for the first time in November after the results of an internal investigation at Nissan were handed to prosecutors. He accused Nissan's executives of plotting against him to prevent integration into Renault, of which he was also chairman.
Ghosn strongly denounced the arrest in a statement Thursday. The "scandalous and arbitrary" arrest is "part of another attempt by some people at Nissan to silence me by misleading prosecutors." Why stop me except to try to break me? not broken, "he swore.
Mitsuru Obe in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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