Carlos Ghosn arrested

[gooki]

New management process in place for Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance.

The leaders of automakers Renault, Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors agreed on Thursday to drop their system of de facto one-man rule in favor of a "rule by committee" style of decision-making, Nikkei has learned.

Renault interim chief Thierry Bollore, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa and Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko agreed to "remain fully committed to the alliance," according to a short joint statement issued after their first trilateral summit since last week's arrest of former alliance head Carlos Ghosn.

Sources say the companies agreed to share all alliance-related information among the three leaders going forward. After consultation, only issues that have been agreed upon will be implemented by the respective companies.

 

[gooki]

Getting political.

The French government has informed Japan it will halt joint development of advanced nuclear reactors, Nikkei has learned, dealing a blow to the fuel cycle policy underpinning much of the East Asian country's energy plans.

France is expected to halt research from next year into the Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration project, or Astrid, and stop setting budgets for the fast breeder reactors from 2020.

French President Emmanuel Macron revealed plans Tuesday to cut France's nuclear reliance to 50% from the current 70%. Under that plan, the Astrid project, which has faced ballooning construction costs and cutbacks, appears to have been viewed as less urgently needed.


The French government denied it has made an official decision on the matter, according to Reuters. But the consideration comes at a time when tensions between Tokyo and Paris are mounting over the arrest of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, and Renault's control over the Japanese automaker.

Japan viewed Astrid as a keystone of its plans to recycle spent nuclear fuel. The country pulled the plug in 2016 on its own prototype fast breeder reactor. That reactor, known as Monju, encountered a great deal of trouble and incurred heavy costs over its decades-long history.

 

[Domenick]

Wow, that's interesting. Is there anything that links the two situations to infer they're connected?

 

[gooki]

Ghost's detention increased another 10 days.

A Tokyo court approved Friday a request from prosecutors to extend the detention of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn through Dec. 10, after he was arrested last week for alleged financial misconduct.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

I can't imagine that one has anything to do with the other. And if projects to develop Generation IV thorium nuclear reactors are being cancelled, perhaps that is a result of the rapid progress in developing even newer, better designs for truly fail-safe micro-reactors, such as NuScale's SMR (Small Modular Reactor) project.

On the other hand, the following articles are certainly relevant to the subject of this thread:

From NBC News.com: "Japan-France spat over Renault-Nissan brews as Ghosn remains jailed"

From Bloomberg: "Macron Tells Abe He Wants to Preserve Renault-Nissan Alliance"

​

 

[gooki]

The French media are going to be up in arms if this goes ahead.

Tokyo prosecutors have decided to seek a fresh arrest warrant for former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn on suspicion that he failed to report around ¥4 billion ($35.5 million) of his remuneration in its securities reports for the three years through March, sources close to the matter said Tuesday.

In Japan, crime suspects can be kept in custody for 10 days and that can be extended for another 10 days if a judge grants prosecutors’ request for extension. At the end of that period, prosecutors must file a former charge or let the suspect go.

However, they can also arrest suspects for a separate crime, in which case the process starts over again. This process can be repeated, sometimes keeping suspects detained for months without formal charges and without bail.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...rge-prolonging-detention-report/#.XAbx7mmYY0M

 

[gooki]

Not surprising.

Prosecutors say Ghosn and Kelly were arrested because of flight risks. But the timing of the scandal, given the length and scale of the alleged wrongdoing, is raising questions.

Source. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...making-false-confession-sources/#.XAcASGmYY0M

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Sad. Looking more and more like it's politically motivated, not to mention apparently a symptom of Japanese prejudice against foreigners.

 

[gooki]

Smelling fishier ever day.

7 month long investigation prior to the arrest.

Detained suspects for two weeks.

And still insufficient evidence to lay charges. Looks like their plan is to incarcerate them indefinitely to force a confession. Ghosn didn't get to where he is by being weak.

 

[gooki]

Denied.

Nissan Motor Co. has rejected partner Renault SA’s request to send a successor with equal authority to replace ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Renault, which has retained Ghosn as CEO and chairman following his arrest last month for alleged financial misconduct, made the request during the Japanese automaker’s emergency board meeting on Nov. 22, according to the sources.

The board is expected to formally approve the successor at its meeting on Dec. 17. One of the plans is to have Saikawa double as interim chairman, the sources said.

Source
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...st-send-successor-replace-ghosn/#.XAjbH2mYY0M

 

[gooki]

Interesting

Furthermore, in a development that could invite more criticism, Nikkei learned Thursday that Saikawa's signature was on documents that spelled out payments to Ghosn after his retirement as a consultant and for agreeing not to work for or join the board of any competitor.

Prosecutors apparently do not suspect Saikawa of knowing that these were deferred payments of current salaries that went unreported, a suspicion for which Ghosn was arrested.

 

[Domenick]

Interesting

Thanks for keeping us up to speed on this. So much going on, it's hard to keep up on important stories like this.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Thanks for keeping us up to speed on this. So much going on, it's hard to keep up on important stories like this.

Yes indeed!

@gooki: Thank you very much for the time and effort you've put in on keeping abreast of the news on this subject, and summarizing that for us.

Reminds me of a comment long ago on the now-defunct TheEEStory forum:

“C’mon people. I didn't sign up for cadre membership to NOT be spoonfed information.” --Fibb
​

 

[gooki]

Happy to help. Nissan is always interesting to me. I've owned three Nissan's, two of them being S13 Silvia's.

It's going to be hard to prove the post retirement renumeration offers are a done deal if there's various versions with different signatures, and no single version with all signatures.

Ousted Nissan Motor Co Chairman Carlos Ghosn admitted to prosecutors that he signed documents on his post-retirement pay that were unreported in the company's securities statements, sources close to the investigation said Thursday.

The act of signing, which Ghosn allegedly denied shortly after his arrest on Nov 19, is seen by prosecutors as more proof that the former chairman of the Japanese automaker violated the financial exchange law by failing to report part of his remuneration.

But the sources said the 64-year-old has argued that the signing of the papers was only to confirm his understanding of the documents' contents, apparently maintaining he did not commit financial misconduct.

It was also learned Thursday that Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa had apparently signed separate documents on post-retirement payments crafted by Ghosn's close aide Greg Kelly, who was also arrested.

Prosecutors have questioned Saikawa on a voluntary basis, believing he knows why and how the documents were created, the sources said.

Aside from Ghosn's signature, the documents also included those of former Japanese secretarial officers.

https://japantoday.com/category/cri...-signed-papers-on-post-retirement-pay-sources

 

[Domenick]

Interesting take from Joe Nocera.
A Backlash Is Coming to Carlos Ghosn’s Arrest

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Interesting take from Joe Nocera.
A Backlash Is Coming to Carlos Ghosn’s Arrest

Holy $@*#!

That was very eye-opening for this "round-eye". I had no idea the criminal justice system worked that way in Japan.
(◣_◢)

 

[Domenick]

Holy $@*#!

That was very eye-opening for this "round-eye". I had no idea the criminal justice system worked that way in Japan.
(◣_◢)

I asked my (Japanese-born and raised) wife today what she thought of the situation. She just assumes Ghosn is guilty and believes the justice system there to be completely normal. She was surprised to hear others outside of Japan might think differently.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

I asked my (Japanese-born and raised) wife today what she thought of the situation. She just assumes Ghosn is guilty and believes the justice system there to be completely normal. She was surprised to hear others outside of Japan might think differently.

I think it's human nature to think of most habits and behaviors in the culture in which we were raised, as being "completely normal", regardless of what they are or were. In fact, the term "cultural norm" describes that.

And I don't think we Americans are in much of a position to throw stones, either. Despite the American ideal of "presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law", most Americans assume that anyone arrested for any crime is guilty. And the news media more or less just as bad, delivering news as if the person had already been convicted of what they are only accused, merely throwing in the word "alleged" or "allegedly" here and there to avoid a lawsuit.

There's a great movie about how the U.S. criminal justice system falls very short of the American ideal: "...And Justice for All". Everyone should see that and think about it.

Okay, down off my soapbox now.

​

 

[specialgreen]

Details about the under reporting related to future compensation after retirement, and stock appreciation

I find it frustrating that most news accounts imply that Ghosn stole millions, and did not report it. I think the casual reader assumes that he received money (theft), and didn't report it to income tax authorities (tax evasion). If an article said "Renault chairman approved massive golden parachute for his own planned 2020 retirement, and didn't account for his 2020 retirement within his 2012 income as reported on corporate financial statements to the CAC index", then readers would just shrug.

In the US, deferred compensation would be entered as a liability on the books of the corporation, but not reported as income for tax purposes by the grantee. I have no idea whether that would be reported to a US trading market as compensation, let alone to a Japanese trading market. But I'm dubious. Future payment of deferred compensation is not guaranteed: if the corporation goes bankrupt, or in some cases if it is subject to a takeover or merger, then it could be gone. Declaring it as compensation seems speculative, and would also be confusing later-on: if it was reported in market filings in 2012, but was paid-out (and not reported as executive compensation) in 2020, that would also confuse investors.

Regarding the misuse of funds, if one of the properties was indeed transferred to Ghosn with his knowledge (e.g. he signed a quit-claim deed), then that would be theft (and possibly tax evasion). It's unclear how the property was "transferred" to him. The numbers would be much smaller, but that's still enough to get him removed from Renault.

 

[Domenick]

I think it's human nature to think of most habits and behaviors in the culture in which we were raised, as being "completely normal", regardless of what they are or were. In fact, the term "cultural norm" describes that.

And I don't think we Americans are in much of a position to throw stones, either. Despite the American ideal of "presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law", most Americans assume that anyone arrested for any crime is guilty. And the news media more or less just as bad, delivering news as if the person had already been convicted of what they are only accused, merely throwing in the word "alleged" or "allegedly" here and there to avoid a lawsuit.

There's a great movie about how the U.S. criminal justice system falls very short of the American ideal: "...And Justice for All". Everyone should see that and think about it.

Okay, down off my soapbox now.

​

While perhaps the U.S. government is in no position to cast stones in some instances, individuals of whatever nationality can criticize governments and larger societal structures. Just because you live or a country or within a cultural group, doesn't mean you can't be critical of same.