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TOKYO – Carlos Ghosn, one of the most powerful leaders in the auto industry, lost another title on Monday when Mitsubishi Motors' board of directors removed him from his position as president one week after his arrest at Tokyo for suspicion of financial fault.
Mr. Ghosn, who was stripped of Nissan's presidency last week as a result of a unanimous vote of the board of directors, remains in a detention center in Tokyo, where he sees his lawyer about a year ago. hour per day approx. Prosecutors questioned him after Nissan had declared that he had under-reported his earnings to Japanese regulators for several years. He was not charged with any crime.
In a statement released on Monday, Osamu Masuko, chief executive of Mitsubishi, said the board had sacked Mr. Ghosn, "because he had lost Nissan's confidence and could no longer perform his duties. president and representative representative ".
Mr. Masuko added that if Mr. Ghosn stayed as president, this could expose Mitsubishi to "reputational risk".
The fall of grace was remarkably fast for Mr. Ghosn. He is long admired in Japan, where Nissan employs more than 22,000 people and Mitsubishi, more than 30,000. He was known as the man who rescued Nissan, becoming One of the leading executives of his generation orchestrated an alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi, making the group the world's largest car salesman.
Prosecutors also interviewed Greg Kelly, a former Nissan human resources manager, who was also fired from the company's board last week, accused of conspiring with Ghosn to under-report the compensation of Mr. Ghosn in the public securities deposits and to use the funds of the company for personal purposes. expenses. Nissan described Kelly as "the mastermind of this affair, alongside Carlos Ghosn".
In his first statements to the media, Yoichi Kitamura, a lawyer representing Mr. Kelly, said his client had denied the charges. "He said he did not intentionally underestimate the executive compensation that should be disclosed in the securities report, nor did he ask others to do it," Kitamura said in an interview with The New York Times.
Mr Kitamura said Mr Kelly would be detained at least until Friday, but that his detention could be extended 10 days later. He added that he expected the prosecutors to finally get an indictment after the extension of the interrogation period.
Like Mr. Ghosn, Mr. Kelly is being held in a room of about 50 square feet. "The room is very small," Kitamura said. "It's inhuman."
Mr. Ghosn was not allowed to see any member of his family, even though he was visited by the French Ambassador and the Brazilian Consul General. Mr. Ghosn has French and Brazilian nationality.
His lawyer in Japan, Motonari Otsuru, has not responded to calls for comment. Former prosecutors have described the interrogation process, in which suspects are not allowed to be accompanied by their lawyers during interrogations.
Some critics have questioned the manner in which Mr. Ghosn was detained. Nobuo Gohara, a former prosecutor, told reporters on Monday at Japan's Foreign Correspondents Club that the Tokyo prosecutor's office was "very reckless and dangerous."
"I would have thought that paying attention would be the norm," said Mr Gohara. "But in this case, I think they have not paid attention."
Mr. Gohara said he was concerned that prosecutors had not gathered enough evidence to support an arrest.
The news of the arrest and detention of Mr Ghosn has invaded the Japanese and French business circles, where Renault, Nissan's largest shareholder, will conduct an internal audit of Mr Ghosn's finances this week, announced Sunday the French Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire. . The French government owns 15% of Renault's capital.
The Mayor said Nissan had not yet released the details of alleged wrongdoings by Ghosn to the French government and Renault, which Ghosn is still chairman and chief executive officer. "We have no information," Le Mayor told BFM.
The leaders of Renault and Nissan plan to meet Wednesday in Amsterdam for a routine meeting of operations. Although the meeting was scheduled before the arrest of Mr. Ghosn, they will probably discuss the fate of the alliance.
Japanese media reported that Hiroto Saikawa, chief executive of Nissan, had said at a business meeting Monday morning that he wanted to review the alliance with Renault, which holds 43% of the capital of Nissan because "it is not equal". he told employees he wanted the alliance to better reflect "Nissan's will".
At a press conference held at Nissan's headquarters on November 19, the night of Mr. Ghosn's arrest, Mr. Saikawa told the press that he was thinking about Nissan's governance and how could he concentrate with Mr. Ghosn? "
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