Ghosn pleads not guilty, says he’s a victim of conspiracy
TOKYO: Lawyers for Carlos Ghosn entered pleas of not guilty on all charges against him, saying Nissan Motor Co.’s former chairman is the victim of a conspiracy between prosecutors, the government and the automaker to bring about his downfall.
All charges against Ghosn, who was arrested almost a year ago in November for alleged financial misconduct, should be dropped, his attorneys argued in documents submitted to the Tokyo District Court. Pretrial hearings are being held on Thursday in the case against Ghosn and former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, who are free on bail in Japan ahead of a trial next year.
Ghosn served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the world’s biggest auto alliance, one between Nissan, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. His arrest destabilised the partnership and triggered a series of events that led to the ouster of the CEOs of Nissan and Renault. While the automakers struggle to restore profitability in an industry being disrupted by electrification and self-driving vehicles, Ghosn is fighting to prove his innocence and restore his reputation.
“The court filings demonstrate that the prosecutors’ case, which was politically motivated and poisoned from the start, is fundamentally flawed and contradicted by the evidentiary record,”
Ghosn’s lawyer’s said in a statement. “This case should never have been brought.”
Ghosn is facing a total of four charges.
Ghosn’s lawyers denied each charge in their submissions, which were formally filed earlier this month. They made the documents, as well as a statement, public today for the hearing.
The filings will let “judges understand what opinions the defence side has and will be useful for our offence,” said Junichiro Hironaka, speaking at a press conference in Tokyo.
Nissan declined to comment, while the prosecutor’s office said they couldn’t immediately comment.
Additionally, Ghosn’s lawyers laid out steps they believe prosecutors took to work with government officials and Nissan employees to build a case against Ghosn.
There was “unlawful collusion between the prosecutors, government officials at Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and executives at Nissan, who formed a secret task force to drum up allegations of wrongdoing,” they said.
The goal was to oust Ghosn to prevent him from further integrating Nissan and Renault, which threatened the Japanese carmaker’s autonomy, according to Hironaka. To execute this plan, the prosecutors “ceded their investigative powers to certain Nissan employees and consultants, and together with Nissan, unlawfully trampled Ghosn’s legal rights in Japan and around the world,” the attorneys said.