Former Nissan president Carlos Ghosn has denied allegations of financial misconduct, saying he had no intention of misinformation, Japanese media said on Sunday.
The Brazil-born tycoon, who has not spoken publicly since his arrest last Monday, told prosecutors that he had no intention of underestimating his income in reports. the public broadcaster NHK.
Without exercising his right to remain silent, Ghosn defended his point of view with prosecutors, said NHK, citing unnamed sources.
Ghosn was sacked Thursday from his position as president of Nissan, a spectacular fall for this once revered boss, whose arrest and overthrow surprised the business world.
Prosecutors accused Ghosn and his colleague, Greg Kelly, of underreporting the former president's income of about five billion yen ($ 44 million).
Kelly also denied the allegations, claiming Ghosn's salaries were properly paid, the press reported.
Local media reported that Nissan had formed a "secret" team earlier this year to investigate the alleged financial misconduct.
A small team of Nissan board members conducted a confidential internal investigation into concerns over Ghosn's possible destruction of evidence, Kyodo News reported in Japan, citing unnamed sources.
The company stepped up the process to quickly oust Ghosn, while Nissan officials were increasingly worried about its plans to revise Renault-Nissan's capital, he added.
Ghosn reportedly planned their full merger, although Nissan officials opposed it because of concerns over Renault's control as the Japanese company became the main player in the alliance.
Ghosn is currently being held in a detention center in Tokyo.
On Wednesday, prosecutors successfully requested the extension of his custody for another 10 days as the interrogation intensified.
In addition, Nissan is considering filing a lawsuit in civil damages against Ghosn for its expenses, Kyodo said.
The Yokohama-based company plans to sue him if controversial spending such as the costs of providing luxury residences in Lebanon is confirmed inappropriate, he added.
The ouster of Ghosn is an amazing turnaround for a titan of the automotive sector that has revived the Japanese brand and has formed an alliance with the French Renault and its national rival Mitsubishi Motors.
The leaders of the three companies plan to hold a meeting this week, their first meeting since his arrest, local media said.
The meeting will be held in the Netherlands with a videoconference available for executives who can not attend, said Yomiuri Shimbun.
This had been scheduled before his arrest, but the leaders could discuss the fate of the alliance, said Tokyo Broadcasting System.
At the same time, Mitsubishi has to hold a board meeting to discuss its future. The company plans to send Ghosn back to the position of president.
SHOW MORE
Last updated: Sunday, November 25, 2018 KSA 12:40 – GMT 09h40
window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({
appId : '477847702293720',
xfbml : true,
version : 'v2.4'
});
};
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js";
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));