Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan CEO and Chairman is known to strengthen the company after he joined in 1999. He also played a crucial role in forming the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance.
However, Carlos was detained in 2018 in Japan because of financial fraud and under-reporting his income by $5 billion over five years. He was also accused of moving JPY of €14.7 million losses on personal investment to Nissan. This matter led to charges of a serious breach of trust against him. Later, he was detained for more than 100 days.
On 19 November 2018, Tokyo district prosecutors arrested Ghosn at 4:30 p.m. upon his re-entry into Japan aboard a private jet that had come from Lebanon, for questioning over allegations of false accounting. Ghosn's top aide, Greg Kelly, a Nissan director and former head of human resources, was also arrested upon his arrival from the U.S. that day.
On the same day, Nissan chief executive Hiroto Saikawa announced at a press conference that Ghosn had been dismissed from Nissan's board and would be stripped of executive rights at a meeting to be held on 22 November. Saikawa stressed that the dismissal was the result of an internal inquiry by Nissan, and alleged that Ghosn and Kelly had under-reported their compensation (a violation of securities law) and used company assets for personal use. While the allegations remained unproven in court, with due legal process pending, at the same news conference, Saikawa "expressed disappointment, indignation, and despair at Ghosn's conduct, which included using company funds for personal investments and misusing corporate assets" and also said, "This is an act that cannot be tolerated by the company... It is sufficient grounds for his dismissal."
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