On Thursday, a Dutch court ruled against former automotive industry executive Carlos Ghosn, who has been accused of fraud, ordering him to pay around five million euros in compensation to the Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. An Amsterdam court stated in a statement that the fugitive director was not entitled to the amounts he received "due to the absence of any employment contract between him and the company," which is controlled by a Dutch holding company.
Last March, Carlos Ghosn renewed his accusations against France and Japan and the two automotive manufacturing companies in a book, repeating the hypothesis of a "conspiracy" against him that led him to flee Japanese justice. He claimed that France sacrificed its soldier. In his book "Together, Always," co-authored with his wife, Ghosn described Japan as a "wonderful country" but warned that, regarding justice, it is closer to a dictatorship than to a democracy. He detailed the months he spent in pre-trial detention awaiting his trial. He escaped from Japan in December 2019, after being released on bail. He stated, "My exit from Japan to come to Lebanon is, first and foremost, an expression of love for Karol."
Ghosn arrived in Beirut on December 30, 2019, where he remains beyond the reach of Japanese justice since Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with Tokyo. Since his escape, the automotive mogul has repeatedly defended himself from a distance. Nissan, when accusing him of embezzlement, sought to "get rid of the symbol and French control over the alliance" with Renault, according to the French-Lebanese-Brazilian businessman, who pointed out that the French state "wanted to set an example and sacrificed soldier Ghosn" to "preserve the Renault-Nissan alliance."
Since his departure, Renault has experienced complete stagnation and is under "state control." Ghosn has called for the cancellation of the Interpol arrest warrant issued against him, which prevents him from leaving Lebanon. He stated, "There are three criteria that allow Interpol to cancel the international arrest warrant: confirming that my case is political, that human rights have been violated, and that this case is not related to the judiciary. I meet all three (criteria)."
Ghosn is facing investigations in France, particularly concerning allegations of misusing company assets at Renault and the Renault-Nissan alliance's branch in the Netherlands. In his absence, a criminal trial is underway in Tokyo for Nissan's former legal adviser, Greg Kelly. Two American citizens accused of assisting Ghosn in his escape from Japan arrived in Tokyo after losing a lawsuit they filed to prevent U.S. authorities from extraditing them to Tokyo.
