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News The Carlos Ghosn saga

Renault has thrown him under the bus. There is a steady leak of new allegations regarding financial impropriety. All bush-league stuff. Using company funds for personal enrichment of a petty sort (well, petty for a rich guy). It's stuff that will win him no friends, get him indicted, and he will probably get off with a multi-year suspended sentence and an ignominious deportation.

Innocent until proven guilty. But... it looks like he's toast.

I agree. Without the political clout, he's toasted french bread. :)
 
Carlos Ghosn finally granted bail!




Yesterday Ghosn's family submitted a dossier to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention - Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva to outline human rights vilations.

 
The only thing I know for sure is "I don't know". But I sure have a feeling this all stinks. AFAIK, Ghosn's Japanese is not remotely on a level he could do any of this on his own and not being found out long ago. And also you know well that Japanese businessmen have been getting away with all this for ages and will continue to do so. So yeah, this really smells like a case of " Get the gaijin".
 
I wonder if they will return his bail. It's a shame he's been deprived of another opportunity to share his side of the story.

 
When he says that he won't be broken, I actually believe him - he's already survived and is still fighting after over 100 days in detention.
 
So his wife split to the USA.
Not a wise thing to do. The US can seize her assets if illegally gained.
 
So his wife split to the USA.
Not a wise thing to do. The US can seize her assets if illegally gained.

It's quite helpful to hold multiple nationalities. Obviously, she flew to France with the help of the French ambassador who accompanied her until she boarded her plane.
 
It has got a bit more quiet on the case, I guess prosecution will be working hard to nail Mr Ghosn who has been released on bail for a second time on 26 April (500m JPY).

Meanwhile - and I cannot state this without a trace of schadenfreude - Nissan does not seem to be doing so well:

 
It appears that Mr Ghosn has left for/escaped to Lebanon. How is that even possible without the involvement of the Japanese authorities? Was he allowed to escape? I'm looking forward to his press conferences next year.



"I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan's legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold," Mr. Ghosn said in a statement released by his spokeswoman. "I have not fled justice — I have escaped injustice and political persecution," the statement said. "I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week."
 
I actually reckon the Japanese government let him go to avoid it going to trial. They must know it was making them look bad and damaged the country's image internationally. They'd rather get rid of him to stop any chance of him forcing them to reform the system.
 
I heard somewhere that he was whisked out of the country by private jet. The jet probably picked him up at an airport other than Haneda or Narita, where getting on a plane without going through departure-immigration would be easy. (When you have millions, I guess doing something like this is easy.) He was probably able to get off the jet in Lebanon without his passport.
 
It seems that even his legal team was caught by surprise:

https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Ghosn's-lawyer-says-he-is-stunned-his-client-left-country

Lawyer Junichiro Hironaka said Tuesday he was stunned that his client, Carlos Ghosn, had jumped bail and denied any involvement in or knowledge of the escape. He said his team of lawyers had all of Ghosn's three passports and was puzzled by how he could have left the country. The last time he spoke to Ghosn was on Christmas Day, and he has never been consulted about leaving for Lebanon, Hironaka told reporters outside his law office in Tokyo. He said the lawyers still need to decide on their next action, besides filing a required report to the judicial authorities. His office was closed for New Year's holidays in Japan. "Maybe he thought he won't get a fair trial," Hironaka said, stressing he continues to believe Ghosn is innocent. "I can't blame him for thinking that way." He called the circumstances of Ghosn's arrest, the seizure of evidence and the strict bail conditions unfair. Ghosn had posted 1.5 billion yen bail on two separate releases. Ghosn had been rearrested on additional charges after an earlier release. Earlier, Ricardo Karam, a television host and friend of Ghosn, told The Associated Press that Ghosn arrived in Lebanon on Monday morning. "He is home," Karam told the AP in a message. "It's a big adventure." Karam declined to elaborate.

Sadly, this will set another precedent for Japanese prosecutors to consider foreign nationals involved in court cases a "flight risk", staged or not.
 
I think this might be used as an xcuse to implement some harsh security measures for the Olympics though, it's not like the Japanese government isn't against using gaijin as an excuse to do such things
 
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