Accused Carlos Ghosn lashes out at Nissan ‘plot and backstabbing’

Fired Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn on Tuesday lashed out at his accusers, saying he is a victim of backstabbing and a conspiracy to blacken his name.

Ghosn was ousted and arrested on four occasions, the fourth time last week after he had been released on bail of one billion yen.

He is accused of using company funds to enrich himself, facing charges of financial misconduct and a breach of trust.

The architect of the alliance between Nissan and Renault released a video in which he said: “This is a conspiracy… this is not about greed or dictatorship, this is about a plot, this about a conspiracy, this is about a backstabbing.” Some car industry watchers say Nissan executives were simply worried about the next stage of the deal with Renault. Mitsubishi joined the alliance on 2016.

Ghosn said: “There was a fear that the next step of the alliance… would in a certain way threaten some people or eventually threaten the autonomy of Nissan.” Ghosn said he simply wants a fair trial. He was first detained in November, accused of under-reporting his pay.

The pre-recorded video was broadcast by his lawyers at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Ghosn did not name any individuals in the video. His main lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, said those references had been edited out.

Nissan responded: “The sole cause of this chain of events is the misconduct led by Ghosn and [right-hand man Greg] Kelly… Nissan’s internal investigation has uncovered substantial evidence of blatantly unethical conduct.”