Ex-Nissan CEO’s arrest a conspiracy to oust him, new counsel says

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This article was published 21/02/2019 (2432 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carlos Ghosn is not guilty of the crimes he is accused of and his arrest was the result of a conspiracy at Nissan Motor Co., the jailed car titan’s new lawyer said as he kicked off his defence campaign in Tokyo.

Nissan’s internal problems are the reason behind Ghosn’s jailing in Japan, and the carmaker should have dealt with its issues within the company rather than involve prosecutors, Junichiro Hironaka, Ghosn’s newly appointed defence lawyer, told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday. He didn’t name any company officials.

The media conference, taking place just days after Ghosn replaced his legal team, is a sign the car executive is going on the offensive in his battle to clear his name. The lawyer’s comments echo those previously made by Ghosn and his family, who have suggested that Ghosn’s plans for a merger between Nissan and its French partner Renault SA were a reason some within Nissan wanted him out of the picture.

Ghosn appears to be deploying a new strategy as he awaits trial on charges of aggravated breach of trust and filing false statements to regulators regarding US$80 million in deferred income looms. The ousted leader — who brought Nissan and Renault together with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in the world’s biggest auto alliance — has lost two requests for bail and faces years in prison in Japan if convicted. He denies the charges.

Confronting a Japanese legal system with a 99 per cent conviction rate, Ghosn replaced a legal group led by former local prosecutor Motonari Otsuru with one overseen by Hironaka, who is known for aggressive tactics defending high-profile clients such as a former senior bureaucrat accused of corruption.

Ghosn is betting that an attorney with a history of challenging the insular Japanese legal world — Hironaka is nicknamed “The Razor” — can make him a free man again. Hironaka successfully defended Atsuko Muraki, a former senior bureaucrat charged in 2009 with falsely certifying an organization as representing disabled people so it could use cheaper postage rates. A third member of Ghosn’s new team, Hiroshi Kawatsu, was part of that defence. Muraki won 37.7 million yen (US$340,000) in compensation from the government.

Hironaka also helped win acquittal for longtime politician Ichiro Ozawa, who was indicted in 2011 for allegedly being involved in a campaign finance scandal. Ghosn’s former chief lawyer Otsuru was one of the leading prosecutors in that case.

Ghosn’s case has put Japan’s justice system under a spotlight. It has been criticized for its heavy reliance on defendants’ confessions, which are often made without a lawyer being present. In an emailed statement to media on Wednesday, the International Federation for Human Rights urged Japan to address “serious flaws” in its criminal justice system exposed by Ghosn’s jailing. Hironaka also said the case raises questions about Japan’s legal system.

While Ghosn’s arrest put added strain on the already tense relationship between Nissan and Renault, the two carmakers have in recent weeks taken steps to restore trust.

Jean-Dominique Senard, who replaced Ghosn as Renault’s chairman, was in Japan last week to meet with Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa and other board members and executives. Senard and Saikawa discussed the operations of what is the world’s biggest car alliance and Nissan’s current initiatives, among other topics.

The visit is among the first steps by Senard to tackle the challenges facing the Franco-Japanese partnership as the sides try to forge a fresh path without Ghosn, who enforced a common vision on the alliance over two decades. Nissan, which ousted Ghosn as chairman soon after his arrest, is said to have sought a review of the pact’s lopsided power structure. Saikawa has criticized Ghosn for having too much authority and making decisions that weren’t in the best interest of the Japanese company.

Nissan took a US$83-million (9.2 billion yen) charge this month over Ghosn’s deferred compensation for the eight years ending in 2017. In doing so, the carmaker is trying to end any debate over whether Ghosn hid millions of dollars in income deferred until his retirement from his fellow executives and board members. The carmaker is also investigating a Dutch entity set up to co-ordinate the alliance jointly with Renault.

— Bloomberg News