Former Renault-Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn has been arrested again in Japan, Thursday morning, for the fourth time and less than a month after he was released on bail.
In an early morning sudden move, Tokyo prosecutors entered Mr. Ghosn’s home in Tokyo and rearrested him, cutting short his brief time outside detention.
Tokyo prosecutors stated that this new arrest is over the payments Mr. Ghosn has made of 3.5 billion yen ($31.4 million at current rates) from 2009 to July 2018 from a Nissan subsidiary to the Omani distributor.
As per the prosecutors, these payments caused Nissan Motor $5 million in losses over a 2-1/2-year period.
As a result, Ghosn’s spokesman issued a counter-statement on behalf of his client, declaring his innocence:
“My arrest this morning is outrageous and arbitrary. It is part of another attempt by some individuals at Nissan to silence me by misleading the prosecutors. Why arrest me except to try to break me? I will not be broken. I am innocent of the groundless charges and accusations against me.”
It doesn’t seem a coincidence that this new arrest came just a day after Ghosn tweeted to the world his intention to reveal a truth that some don’t wish out.
“I’m getting ready to tell the truth about what’s happening,” his tweets said in both Japanese and English, announcing the date of his press conference to be on Thursday, April 11.
From his side. Ghosn’s lead lawyer Junichiro Hironaka described the rearrest of his client during the release on bail as “unusual” and “unfair”.
He also stated that the prosecutors wanted to silence Ghosn after his tweets to hold his first press conference on April 11. “The intent of the prosecutors is to pressure Ghosn, and to stop him from speaking freely,” Hironaka asserted.
He added that he will release a video-statement that Ghosn had planned to deliver at the April 11 news conference. The lead lawyer retained from revealing the date he intends to release it.
Mr. Ghosn was arrested several times before. His first arrest was on November 19th of 2018 because of his dismissal of the charges as “meritless.”
He stated back then that he was the victim of a boardroom coup. He was then arrested twice in December 2018 with a further charge of “breach of trust.”
Mr. Ghosn was then released last month on £6.8m bail, emerging from a detention center in Tokyo wearing a face mask.
