Carlos Ghosn: No confession, but a challenge – business

• The author, Carlos Ghosn, arrested in Japan, reportedly admitted that his former employer, Nissan, had only paid half of his salary to the financial regulator.
• What looks like a confession can be considered a challenge. The Japanese prosecutor could still be embarrbaded.
• At the same time, rumors are circulating that Nissan will broadcast the many details on Ghosn. Perhaps because he made a plan that the Japanese did not like.

Carlos Ghosn, in custody in Tokyo, reportedly admitted that Nissan had reported to financial supervisors only half his salary. This was reported by the Japanese press on Wednesday. However, the head of the Renault-Nissan alliance told prosecutors that since the second installment, about eight million euros a year, will not be due until his resignation, Nissan has not yet had to declare it.

His statement was therefore not a confession, but a challenge. If the agreement on deferred payments is properly drafted, for example, if it contains a clause stating that it should only be disbursed under certain conditions, the Attorney General's Tokyo office might be embarrbaded . Because then their claims would collapse and Ghosn could be released.

Japanese prosecutors like to play puzzle pieces with which they recreate a crime. This time it is different, says ex-prosecutor Nobuo Gohara. The constantly renewed information was probably not transmitted by the investigators, but by Nissan to the public. The company could therefore try to defame Ghosn from his cunning and greedy sense.

Japanese media accept it with gratitude, fueling the indignation of the apartments that Ghosn charged Nissan for. And about the consultant's fees that he paid to his sister. The fact that this 64-year-old may not have been punished by law is unattractive at the moment. Hiroto Saikawa, an adoptive son of Ghosns and a former boss of Nissan since April 2017, stirs up antipathy against his former mentor, according to Tatsuo Yoshida, equity badyst, on a daily basis. Yomiuri"It's a coup d'etat, the ghosn era is over."

Many Japanese react with resentment when we talk about Ghosn

Ghosn was considering a restructuring of the alliance between Renault and Nissan. According to Financial Times he wanted to merge the two. If he had not been able to carry with it, he had wanted to bring her back under the roof of a new holding company to create, which he would have driven. In contrast, Nissan has locked itself, the largest and most successful of the two companies. In any case, the Japanese are at a disadvantage: Renault controls 43% of Nissan shares, against only 15%.

This Thursday, Alliance leaders gathered in Amsterdam to discuss future structures. The meeting would have been scheduled before Ghosn's arrest. Observers in Japan ask if Ghosn should be stopped by Nissan and the prosecutor. It is no coincidence that Nissan has opened its internal investigation into Mr Ghosn's financial affairs after announcing six months ago that he wanted to rebuild the alliance. Saikawa told Nissan staff on Monday that he needed to rethink the Alliance.

Many Japanese react with resentment when approached on Ghosn. The intelligent alien has exempted the Japanese in good faith, they say. They do not want to hear about Nissan's merits. While the court case is shaking, public opinion has already sentenced Ghosn. Meanwhile, prosecutors are looking for another financial crime, which they can charge. During the 2008 financial crisis, Mr. Ghosn recorded private speculative losses of $ 15 million on Nissan. However, the Nissan Board of Directors accepted this proposal at that time and the regulators also indicated that they were aware of it.