Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

A11
WORLD NEWS Wednesday 21 november 2018

Arrest of Nissan's Ghosn in financial probe stuns Japan

By MARI YAMAGUCHI also suspected of collabo- sition to head the group.
Associated Press rating with him. Le Maire said French au-
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese "It's extremely regrettable," thorities have found no
prosecutors were consid- Chief Cabinet Secretary wrongdoing in Ghosn's tax
ering Tuesday whether to Yoshihide Suga told report- situation in France.
file formal charges against ers. "We will watch devel- Ghosn's Lebanese heritage
Nissan Motor Co. chairman opments closely." is a source of pride in Leba-
Carlos Ghosn amid a probe There was no word from non, and in Beirut the for-
into allegations he misused Ghosn himself. Prosecutors eign minister, Gibran Bassil,
company assets and un- have refused to say where issued a statement saying
der-reported millions of dol- he was being held. the Lebanese ambassador
lars of income. The prosecutors, who re- to Tokyo was told to look
The arrest of Ghosn after a portedly arrested Ghosn out for "the model of Leba-
whistleblower disclosed the after questioning him upon nese success abroad."
alleged misconduct left his arrival by private jet at He said the Lebanese for-
many in Japan stunned by Tokyo's Haneda airport, eign ministry would stand
the downfall of a relentless have 48 hours from the by Ghosn to ensure he gets
cost cutter who appears to time of Ghosn's arrest Mon- a fair trial.
have spent lavishly on him- day to decide whether to In Japan, where foreign
self. press charges. In this Oct. 6, 2017, photo, Renault Group CEO Carlos Ghosn executives are scarce and
"Actually, we also have a They can hold a suspect listens during a media conference at La Defense business even the biggest corpo-
Nissan car. So I do feel a for up to 20 more days per district, outside Paris, France. rate bigwigs tend to keep
little betrayed because he charge if they decide they Associated Press a low profile, Ghosn's status
essentially was being dis- need more time. is more ambiguous.
honest," Noriko Handa, a The scandal has thrown 2022. heavyweight industrial sur- He is admired for driving a
housewife in her 50s, said into question Ghosn's future Ghosn officially still leads vivors. turnaround at Nissan when
as she walked near down- as leader of the Renault- the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubi- He has met repeatedly with it was near bankruptcy and
town Tokyo's Shimbashi Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, shi alliance as CEO and the past four French presi- for his foresight in pushing
train station. which sold 10.6 million cars chairman. Renault said its dents; no major economic to bring electric and auton-
Prosecutors said they were last year, more than any board would hold an emer- event in France was held omous cars to the masses.
holding Ghosn, 64, for al- other manufacturer. gency meeting Tuesday in without Ghosn. But in a 90-minute news
legedly collaborating to Nissan's board was due to response to his arrest. But French Finance Minister conference late Monday
falsify securities statements meet Thursday to consider Of French, Brazilian and Bruno Le Maire told broad- night, Nissan CEO Hiroto
and underreport $44.6 mil- dismissing Ghosn and Kel- Lebanese background, caster Franc-Info on Tues- Saikawa said Ghosn had
lion in income from 2011 ly. Earlier this year, Ghosn Ghosn also is a towering day that Renault should too much power and the
to 2015. A second Nissan signed a contract that corporate figure in France, name temporary leader- company was overdue for
executive, Greg Kelly, was would have run through where Renault is one of the ship as Ghosn is not in a po- some change.q