Who Is Carlos Ghosn And Why Is He Wanted On A Global Scale?

Who Is Carlos Ghosn And Why Is He Wanted On A Global Scale?

As a result of Carlos Ghosn’s Tuesday appearance in Lebanon and subsequent admission that he had fled Japan, where he is wanted for financial crimes, Interpol has issued what is known as a “Red Notice” to Lebanon, a non-binding request to locate and apprehend the former auto industry leader.

Who Is Carlos Ghosn?

On November 19, Carlos Ghosn, the person who founded what was essentially the largest automaker in the world, was detained in Japan. For a guy regarded as one of the most prominent executives in the auto business, the arrest represents a dramatic fall from grace. 

In an alliance that later included Mitsubishi Motors of Japan, Mr. Ghosn (pronounced “Goan”) is credited with revitalizing the French and Japanese automakers Renault and Nissan. The three businesses sold 10.6 million cars in the previous year. 

The arrest has come as a shock to a sector that is already struggling with a global trade war, the push toward electric vehicles, and competition from non-traditional automakers.

What Is He Accused Of? 

On November 19, 2018, Ghosn was detained in Tokyo. He was accused of underreporting his pay for a total of five years by roughly half. He was charged with under-reporting his wages for an additional three years after being indicted a month later, leading to his prompt re-arrest. 

Then, on December 21, 2018, he was taken into custody on further charges. According to Japanese prosecutors, he was charged with shifting personal losses of $16.6 million to Nissan. 

In January 2019, during his initial court appearance, he proclaimed his innocence and said he had been unfairly charged. On bond, he was released.

In April 2019, Japanese authorities detained him for the fourth time, charging him with attempting to enrich himself at Nissan’s expense. He was once more released on bail, but not before spending weeks in solitary detention and going through 130 days of questioning, according to his attorneys.

Carlos Ghosn Fled To Japan For What Reason?

Ghosn’s appearance in Lebanon on Tuesday, when he claimed to be fleeing from what he deemed a “rigged” Japanese legal system, shocked and humiliated Japanese officials. In criminal cases, Japan boasts a 99 percent conviction rate. 

Rights advocates claim that both in and outside of Japan, the legal system heavily relies on prolonged detentions that result in fabricated confessions and does not presume innocence. The maximum sentence for the accusations against Ghosn is 15 years in prison. A delay in the trial and a stringent prohibition against communicating with his wife, according to those close to Ghosn, was what drove him to flee the country.

Can Ghosn Continue To Work? 

The Japanese businesses have already begun to think about cutting links. The board of directors of Nissan and Mitsubishi both decided to remove Mr. Ghosn from his role as chairman on November 22 and 26, respectively. 

Renault has exercised greater caution. Mr. Ghosn will continue to serve as chairman and CEO, but the board has appointed Thierry Bolloré, the chief operating officer, to take over Mr. Ghosn’s daily duties. The interim chairman will be Philippe Lagayette, the leading independent director of the board. 

The claims against Mr. Ghosn in Japan are not supported by any evidence, according to France’s finance and economy minister, Bruno Le Maire.

Who Else Was A Part Of It? 

That adds to the intrigue as well. According to Junichiro Hironaka, one of Ghosn’s attorneys, the executive’s passports from France, Brazil, and Lebanon were being held by the executive’s attorneys by the terms of his bail. 

The French passport was kept in a closed container by Ghosn when he was out on bail, according to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, which may help explain how he was able to flee despite having his passports seized by Japanese attorneys. 

According to a police spokesperson, Turkish police detained seven people as part of the inquiry on Thursday, including four pilots. Two airport ground crew members and one cargo worker made up the remaining inmates, according to her, and all seven were scheduled to testify in court. 

According to flight monitoring information, Ghosn flew to Istanbul and then to Lebanon on two different aircraft.

Would People Miss Carlos Ghosn? 

According to sources from Bloomberg News and The Financial Times, Mr. Ghosn had been considering merging Nissan and Renault to strengthen the alliance but ran into objections from both sides. 

As he raced between Paris and Tokyo, he was lauded in the corporate world as the model of a high-flying, multitasking boss. 

He had residences in Paris, Amsterdam, Beirut, and Rio de Janeiro. He frequently spoke on panels at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In 2016, he wed in a lavish ceremony at Versailles with actors dressed in period attire. Manga comic comics even featured accounts of his life.

He was, however, unusual in Japan: a foreign executive in a domestic company who implemented similarly uncommon layoffs and earned good salaries when compared to other Japanese executives, albeit not by international standards. 

The accusations made against Mr. Ghosn might damage his reputation. Losing Mr. Ghosn from the Japanese corporate managerial scene is a loss for Japan, according to an economist with Japan Macro Advisors in Tokyo who spoke about his arrest. More non-Japanese business executives who are prepared to take risks, articulate a vision, and exercise top-down leadership is needed.