Ghosn blames conspiracy

FORMER Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn claims he is a victim of a conspiracy and backstabbing by former colleagues.

In a seven-minute video released by his legal team, the 65-year- old blamed his arrest for financial misconduct in Japan on a plot against him.

‘This is not about greed. This is not about dictatorship,’ he said.

‘This is about a plot, this is about conspiracy, this is about backstabbing – that’s what we are talking about.’

The French-Brazilian businessman, who is credited with turning around the Japanese car maker in the late 1990s and 2000s, was arrested for the fourth time last week.

Ghosn faces trial on charges of financial misconduct and breach of trust.

He used the video, which was recorded before his latest arrest, to deny all the charges against him.

He said the plot stemmed from fears inside Nissan that his plans for a closer alliance with French partner renault posed a threat to the Japanese firm.

Ghosn had masterminded an alliance between Nissan, renault and Mitsubishi.

‘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,’ he said.

In a response to Ghosn’s video, Nissan said: ‘Aside from any criminal matters, Nissan’s internal investigation has uncovered substantial evidence of blatantly unethical conduct.’

It added: ‘Further discoveries related to Ghosn’s misconduct continue to emerge’.