Ghosn to be detained for another 10 days; Nissan board to vote on his dismissal

In 2015, Julie Hamp, a Toyota Motor Corp public relations executive, an American, was arrested on suspicion of importing oxycodone, a narcotic pain killer, into Japan. The drug is tightly controlled in Japan. Police said the drugs were in a parcel Hamp mailed to herself.

Huh? Just adding fuel to the "gaijin" fire? Really there is no point to this in the article about Ghosn.

Wow, they're really throwing the book at him. Can he even make a public statement?

While he is in custody there is little chance that we will hear anything from him. Japanese investigators are going to try their hardest to get him to sign a confession about any wrongdoing on his part, which will make their jobs infinitely easier in prosecuting him. They can create the story based upon what he "confesses" to

That poor cameraman. Were his bosses expecting execs to fling themselves out a window?

Giving the property to Ghosn.... that was Nissan's escape clause for if and when the need arose. You ever wonder why no large Japanese manufacturer has ever been bought by a foreign company..... because once fully purchased, all the dead skeletons in the closet could be found and the real dirty laundry comes out.

Corporate coup d'etat.

Another episode of “Blame it on the gaijin”

while greedy unscrupulous and downright criminal politicians and cooperate executives fleece the economy and the country with impunity!

As per this article and other media sources he hasn't been charged... Don't they have any evidence for charging him? Failure to charge him until now just shows that they are on a wild goose hunt with only hearsays rather than actual documentation and evidence. If they have concrete evidence then this is an open and shut case with prosecution of the offender but the actions of the relevant authorities handling the matter seems like it was a set up from the start to make an example out of him. Also one has to wonder how he could have managed to under report his income and benefits from the tax authority without the assistance of Nissan Inc for so long. Probably there is a lot of jealousy by some other Nissan executives who want to be the focal point of the company so this whole situation has unfolded. Imagine if he is found to be innocent and had worked within the boundaries of law ( bending it but not breaking it ) ... He should then sue the whistleblower and Nissan Inc ( for throwing him under the bus as seen by the actions of their CEO in the press conference ).

Can he even read or speak Japanese?

How could a foreigner who isn’t fluent in spoken or written Japanese accomplish such a crime at a Japanese company in Japan ?

SaikoPsyco - "Giving the property to Ghosn.... that was Nissan's escape clause for if and when the need arose. You ever wonder why no large Japanese manufacturer has ever been bought by a foreign company..... because once fully purchased, all the dead skeletons in the closet could be found and the real dirty laundry comes out."

This happened with Olympus back in 2011 or 2012. It was not a purchase by a foreign company, rather a British -CEO- came to the helm and Pandora's Box was opened.

How could a foreigner who isn’t fluent in spoken or written Japanese accomplish such a crime at a Japanese company in Japan ?

Insane Wayne - you're not so insane. that's a good point.

How come we haven't heard from his lawyers? Japan's constitution guarantees a right to legal counsel while under arrest and detention.

I assume Ghosn can afford good lawyers.

It seems that prosecutors try to find out more wrongdoings besides understatement of income, misusing of Nissan assets,,etc. Maybe they want put him on full penalties.

Are you telling me that a huge under reporting like this over many years was not noticed by the company’s Board or Auditor? There must be more to this than meets the eye. With all the corruption and misreporting in Japan, it does look like Ghosn ultimately paid the price for being a foreigner who tried to put Japanese management in their place. Of course, if he did something wrong he should be penalised, as long as other executives in Japan are treated the same way.

Wow, they're really throwing the book at him. Can he even make a public statement?

That's the point. Ghosn is being prevented from making any statements or publically questioning any charges until Nissan removes him as chairman today. Heck, they took him into custody as his plane landed at Haneda!

For now they will keep Ghosn under wraps and silenced. Until the new Japanese powerstructure at Nissan is consolidated and thus the planned merger between Renault and Nissan is thoroughly obstructed. The alliance will probably survive, but with the interests of the Japanese side considerably strengthened. There is a lot at stake here for Nissan and Ghosn is just a queen sacrifice in a much bigger game.

He got over 700 million yen every year, so 10 million yen ($89,000) fine isn't too small ?

It is piece of cake for him...

Japan's going to pay for this with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.

Ghosn is the only reason Nissan still exists. When Japanese CEO's are back in charge it is going to crumble just like it was before Ghosn came onboard.

Why are the authorities not chasing after the CEO's of Japanese megacorps? You know, the ones that have all been outed as having fraudulent accounting practices? Why Ghosn?

Strange that they go on about money rather than his shares, he must have been on a huge bonus linked to performance success, that's the way most Chairman work, people like Elon.

This looks more and more like a stitch up as each day passes.

If it is, this could end up being very very bad for Nissan.

Did they have to do this to prevent a merger with Renault?

Or has Ghosn actually been defrauding the company for 5 years without anyone noticing?

Let the man speak. Let’s hear what he has to say.

A Leading Democratic nation's example of habeus corpus.

Extended indefinite detention was not the original intention when created as a rightful act for peoples protection centuries ago in England. Something "Lost in Translation" methinks.

And Ghosn most certainly has done some wrong doings - no argument about that, but this has all the hallmarks of an elaborately researched, constructed, collaboration by multiple parties incl Nissan execs, prosecutors & police to oust Ghosn.

As noted above - a corporate coup d'etat - under the guise of getting the baddies out.

On this occasion, people of the world should think about income gaps of super rich and ordinary workers. Nissan executives all knew about Ghosn's true income including shady ones but they could not make it public in fear of criticism of the general public.

I understand that Ghosn was planning to merge Nissan with Renault.

If it had been successful .... well, maybe some jealousy was also involved on the Japanese side?

I mean, who wants to have a gaijin collect all the credit for such a success, right!

What success? Merging with a failing car company that can't stay afloat by itself without payments from Nissan is a success? Of course there is bad blood involved here, Nissan outperforms Renault in every single way and yet is still a prisoner to Renault. Its nothing more than a parasite, and you better believe that Japanese board of directors would never let that happen.

Its a corporate coup d'etat that's probably been in the works for some time now, and thanks to Japans plea bargain law introduced in June, the whistleblower made the entire thing extremely easy. Ghosn will be found guilty, but not because he is a foreigner but rather because he is guilty of it. Nissan is just going to leverage this to gain a better foothold in their dealings with Renault.

Basic corporate governance, nothing to see here, move along.

More money, more problems.

People need to realize that this is as much as a celebrity or rich person problem than it is a blame it on a foreigner problem. I know several people that came to Japan without knowing the tax system and when or where to pay. Everyone went to their local city hall to explain the problem and everyone had the same result- the city hall officer just let it slide. How many Japanese can honestly get the same result? Same with getting out of traffic tickets.

It seems Nissan has pro-Ghosn side and anti-Ghosn side. Anti-group wanted to kick him out of NIssan because NIssan and Renault merger. Anti-group does not want it. So they leaked wrongdoings of Ghosn.

Browny* agree. It’s a purge. I bet there’s a quiet and satisfying feeling of staunch solidarity amoungst the architects too.

‘This is still Japan after all!’ type narrative.

A Leading Democratic nation's example of habeus corpus.

I'm not sure habeus corpus would have any relevance in this case even if it applied in Japan. We know exactly who is holding Carlos, we know exactly where he is being held, we know roughly why the authorities are holding him, and we know the exact date he will be released if not charged. It's not as if Carlos has been 'disappeared' in the habeus corpus sense.

20 days in jail for a corporate coup d'etat and not a single J-exec in jail over actual important things. Wow

The auditor of Nissan is Ernst & Young Shin Nihon, which happens to be the same company which earned a dubious reputation with the financial scandals at Olympus and Toshiba. According to Bloomberg, Ernst & Young’s Japanese affiliate was fined $18 million in 2015 for poor auditing of Toshiba, which resulted in Japan’s worst accounting scandal up to that point, and before that worked on Olympus, although it was cleared of blame for the $1.7 billion accounting fraud at that firm.

Reminds me of " Livedoor "

Hmmm, we all like to think of the Japanese Prosecutors as the good guys, but we've all learnt from Elon, some bad press is a buy opportunity, 43% is not far from 51

Can he even read or speak Japanese?

> How could a foreigner who isn’t fluent in spoken or written Japanese accomplish such a crime at a Japanese company in Japan ?

Just a wild guess but if he was capable of being both the CEO and Chairman of the board of one of Japan's biggest corporations for almost twenty years, the language barrier probably wasn't an impediment to him.

How come we haven't heard from his lawyers? Japan's constitution guarantees a right to legal counsel while under arrest and detention.

Having a right to lawyers (which he does have) doesn't necessarily mean they are going to speak to the media on your behalf unless you tell them to.

I'm not sure habeus corpus would have any relevance in this case even if it applied in Japan. We know exactly who is holding Carlos, we know exactly where he is being held, we know roughly why the authorities are holding him, and we know the exact date he will be released if not charged. It's not as if Carlos has been 'disappeared' in the habeus corpus sense.

Japan actually does technically have habeus corpus on its statute books (the Habeus Corpus Act of 1948), but you are correct, it is never used in police detention cases like this (despite that being the original intent of the law).

He should have converted to become a Japanese citizen in my opinon because he would of been better treated.

Seriously how stupid is this, 3 massive companies that are PUBLICLY TRADING companies would not do the finances and see every single yen/euro going in and out of Japan, this is all lies and cover ups to destroy Ghosn, WAKE UP! if no one figured that out, then you are blind.

Ghosn is no saint!

And I have personal knowledge of this. 

But...

This is a Nissan Japanese hit job against the foreigner!

Without question.

He may never be charged or convicted...

But, that was and is not the goal...

He will removed from Nissan and Nissan will then have more power to dictate their relationship with Renault.

Japan Inc. strikes back.

M3 - as I understand the meaning of habeus corpus, a person has a right to appear before a judge to determine whether or not his/her detention is lawful ie evidence exists which means that arrest and charges are laid.

In this case I'm not sure if has had a chance or not to appear before a judge to state his opinion re the accusations.

Habeus Corpus is used to prevent false imprisonment or long detention. Most democracies afaik apply this understanding.

Zones, with out Carlos, Nissan would not exist.. Nissan CANT 'dictate' anything to Renault, considering they are the MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER of Nissan, please read more business news before commenting wishful thinking and read his books to understand what exactly he did: https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B4%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3/e/B004LT6MIU/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

M3 - as I understand the meaning of habeus corpus, a person has a right to appear before a judge to determine whether or not his/her detention is lawful ie evidence exists which means that arrest and charges are laid.

That is basically the correct understanding of habeus corpus in common law countries. In Japan the Habeus Corpus Act on paper seems to guarantee that, as it was passed by the Diet in 1948 during the US occupation specifically to limit state power. But the Act also gave the courts a great deal of discretion in implementing it, and the Supreme Court in the 1950s basically created rules that completely robbed it of any use in cases of police detention. Today it is mostly used in family law cases (which is weird).

https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=alr

In this case I'm not sure if has had a chance or not to appear before a judge to state his opinion re the accusations.

You can basically be held by the police for up to 23 days before being indicted. Its not automatic, the prosecutors have to go to a judge after the first 10 days to request an extension, but that is about it.

So no, he hasn't been able to appear before a judge yet.

Habeus Corpus is used to prevent false imprisonment or long detention. Most democracies afaik apply this understanding.

Yup. Except Japan. Which probably goes some way towards explaining the ludicrous 99% conviction rates (and numerous false convictions) that the system produces.

Reading carefully abt this case from day one, I must say, this is definitely a set up by the Nissan Japanese top team, who is upset abt their capabilities that are better than Renault and have only 19% of shares in Renault , while Renault have 43% in Nissan.I have lived and worked in japan for 30 years.Taking action against Carlos behind his back is very poor minded Japanese style but in Japan, in the eyes of poor minded workers it is very normal to handle Carlos this way. They tell themselves and their partners at Nissan, I am doing this kind of actions for saving u and vocing what U, all cannot express to a strong man called Carlos.What these people forgot is there are also reasonable Japanese people that can think correctly.

M3 - as I understand the meaning of habeus corpus, a person has a right to appear before a judge to determine whether or not his/her detention is lawful ie evidence exists which means that arrest and charges are laid.

Sure they do, but there is already a process and timeline set out for this. It's all laid out in the code of criminal procedure. On what grounds do you believe that Ghosn's arrest and detention is unlawful? If you think the maximum detention period should be shortened by x number of days, that might be entirely reasonable but it doesn't make the current process unlawful. They obviously need time to gather evidence in such a complex case and they don't want to run the risk of Carlos fleeing Japan or destroying documents. This is why he's been detained.

The Dirty Truth... Japan's Govt. Debt is over $10 Trillion. When you add in all the various local City and Town negative numbers..... you're looking at over $15 Trillion in debt. How the heck does a country of 125 million people put itself so far in the negative category? Collusion.... Govt - Corporate and even NPO (Japan's so called Non Profit Organizations). Where does Ghosn come in... he stepped into a "favored" position. One that normally includes privy information. Kind of like Woodward with Olympus. It is fixed.... every thing in Japan is fixed.... certain markets are "fluff" markets. Markets that no one has ownership over in Domestic Japan. Like Cryptocurrency..... those markets are then given to the Yakuza to mess with as they please. Ghosn rocked the boat.... he didn't realize he was walking into the dark side in a protected industry. The side where all the corp and govt collusion is kept. By actually forcing a hostile takeover of Nissan.... it may have brought to light all the collusion. I know.... yes, you're saying this guy is bonkers but believe me..... this is the fabric of Japanese Business and Politics. The average citizen.... suspects it is this way.... but they're happy do just go on as things are.

This is also a very normal case of top Japanese people who cannot negotiate at Nissan, these people keep their displeasure without the ability to discuss without shouting ( Poorly educated Japanese Shouts when the want ), these people wants to get what they want because they ( only them ) thinks that what they are doing to Carlos make them a hero. But this case have to do with countries and lives of many thousand of people. This is a high profile case. I hope the whistle-blower is ready for the coming results.Carlos have not been charged yet.Countries are involved.Nissan will be badly viewed , the Kansayaku, the accountants, the whole top team is over , no matter what is the result.

Imagine the reaction here if a Japanese exec were banged up abroad for cheating on his taxes. This is outrageous.

If a Japanese exec cheated on his taxes abroad he would face legal punishment in that country. There is nothing objectionable about that.

This happens a lot. A Daiwa Securities exec for example was sentenced to 4 years in prison in New York for hiding losses from investors (Google Toshihide Iguchi). And Japan didn't explode with rage because.....he did a bad thing and was punished for it which is just normal.

M3 - thank you.

What you are saying re the actualities of the case may well be, I just originally commented that it doesn't fall under the commonly held notions of habeus corpus. That's all.

And as RainyDay clearly sets out - it appears Japan doesn't follow this basic tenet of the right to appear before a judge to determine whether or not the detention is lawful.

So Japan has a different view of the rights of apprehended individuals.

Probably it has used it's extended detention system to favor it's historically significant "Guilty by Confession" processing of detainees.

Other democracies afaik don't do this. That's all.

You can basically be held by the police for up to 23 days before being indicted. Its not automatic, the prosecutors have to go to a judge after the first 10 days to request an extension, but that is about it.

This statement is half inaccurate.

Arrested people have to be put in front of a judge within 72 hours (3 days), who can extend detention by 10 days. After that ten days, they are then again put in front of a judge, who can extend detention a further 10 days. After that, judges can extend a further five days in exceptional circumstance, however usually the prosecutors will just switch to a different charge at this time, so this final five day extension rarely happens.

So no, he hasn't been able to appear before a judge yet.

They've already reported he's been before a judge.

And as RainyDay clearly sets out - it appears Japan doesn't follow this basic tenet of the right to appear before a judge to determine whether or not the detention is lawful.

This is incorrect. Arrested suspects must appear before a judge within 72 hours.

@Kenji Fujimori,

Zones, with out Carlos, Nissan would not exist.. Nissan CANT 'dictate' anything to Renault, considering they are the MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER of Nissan, please read more business news before commenting wishful thinking and read his books to understand what exactly he did:

I know Carlos and his family personally. I know them from right after they moved to Japan.

I know EXACTLY what Carlos did to help revive Nissan. And Carlos asked me to join Nissan a few years after he came to Japan.

Oh, and I worked at Nissan during the bubble era.

Because Renault is the majority owner of Nissan, there was only a few possible way for the Japanese to strengthen J-mgmt's ability to direct the future of Nissan.

And what they did was PRECISELY the way to do it! To mitigate the Renault majority ownership!

Arrested people have to be put in front of a judge within 72 hours (3 days), who can extend detention by 10 days. After that ten days, they are then again put in front of a judge, who can extend detention a further 10 days. After that, judges can extend a further five days in exceptional circumstance, however usually the prosecutors will just switch to a different charge at this time, so this final five day extension rarely happens.

My mistake! You are correct with your correction about that, they do appear before the judge for the 10 day detention requests. So yes, he has appeared before a judge (though not as a result of a habeus corpus motion, but simply because that is the procedure for getting detention).

Good to hear he will be detained until charged.

I know Carlos and his family personally. I know them from right after they moved to Japan.

I know EXACTLY what Carlos did to help revive Nissan. And Carlos asked me to join Nissan a few years after he came to Japan.

And what they did was PRECISELY the way to do it! To mitigate the Renault majority ownership!

Really? so that is how business works is it? CEO does something bad, lets just hand it back and remove the majority shareholders with a wave of harry potters wand?

And as RainyDay clearly sets out - it appears Japan doesn't follow this basic tenet of the right to appear before a judge to determine whether or not the detention is lawful.

This is incorrect. Arrested suspects must appear before a judge within 72 hours.

Not to split hairs, but its not entirely incorrect. The suspect is brought to the judge at the discretion of the prosecutor simply in response to a request from the prosecutor to extend detention. This isn't the same as habeus corpus where the suspect (or related party) has a right to bring a challenge to a detention to the court.

@Kenji Fujimori,

And what they did was PRECISELY the way to do it! To mitigate the Renault majority ownership!

Really? so that is how business works is it? CEO does something bad, lets just hand it back and remove the majority shareholders with a wave of harry potters wand?

Well, as hard as it might be for you to belive, I did know Carlos personally. And his family.

And did, in fact, get offered a job at Nissan as a result of that. Back in 2003. A position that was personally approved by Carlos.

Oh, and I very much understand how majority shareholder ownerships work.

Which is exactly why this approach was the best way for Nissan J-management to neutralize the normal powers that come with majority ownership.

Consider Renault now proposing a full merger..... that would reduce the autonomy of Nissan..... seems far less likely with Ghosn being disgraced.

Don't you think??

According to Bloomberg, he doesn't necessarily have access to a lawyer, at least not while the interrogation is taking place:

> 6. What are Ghosn’s rights while he’s under arrest?

Unlike in many legal systems, Ghosn won’t necessarily have access to his lawyer during questioning, even if it goes on for weeks. The prosecutors get to decide whether to allow his attorney to sit in, Johnson says. In practice, when a suspect wants to speak to their lawyer during questioning, prosecutors will suspend the interview and let the suspect go to a different room to see their attorney, rather than allow the attorney into the interview, Kinukawa said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-20/what-s-next-for-ghosn-in-japan-s-unique-legal-system-quicktake

It's a plot! How many corrupted Japanese business leaders are out there, and the first one to throw in the towel just had to be a foreigner huh?! At least thank him for what he did to Nissan, overhauled them completely from nearly bankruptcy to a global enterprise! Mr. Fix it, will not go down that easily!

The very fact that a court can order a person to be detained without charge for 10 days shows that something has gone seriously wrong with the constitution set up in Japan after WW2.

Further reading in a book published in the 1980's "The Enigma of Japanese Power"by Karel Van Wolferen cites this. It is in the chapter entitled "Friendly Neighbourhood Police State".

I am not sure whether or not the prosecutors office have a gaikensatsu these days. At one time there were separate prosecutors for non-Japanese.

Not to split hairs, but its not entirely incorrect. The suspect is brought to the judge at the discretion of the prosecutor simply in response to a request from the prosecutor to extend detention.

Well, since we're splitting hairs, the comment was:

it appears Japan doesn't follow this basic tenet of the right to appear before a judge to determine whether or not the detention is lawful.

Official documentation states:

Upon arresting a suspect, the police must inform him of a summary of the causal facts for which he has been arrested as well as his right to select a defense counsel, and must give him an opportunity to make an explanation.

And:

when there is a request from the prosecutor and a judge deems that the request has a compelling reason, the period of detention can be extended up to another 10 days.

Link: https://www.npa.go.jp/english/ryuchi/Detention_house-Eng_080416.pdf

Suspects must be given an opportunity to make an explanation, and a judge had to determine the detention request has a compelling reason. The two of these serve to fit the bill of appearing before a judge to determine whether or not detention is lawful.

The man who saved Nissa, hung out to dry by j inc.

The man who saved Nissa

If he had turned around Nissan without firing 20,000 employees and huge money for himself, yes.

In short, it is a bad bad year for corporate Japan. What Japanese industry now has not been tarnished by some scandal?

Strangerland - thanks for the comments and links. I have read those points a few years back.

I guess my thinking on this case centers on my previous comment -

"...In this case I'm not sure if he has had a chance or not to appear before a judge to state his opinion re the accusations..."

At the time of writing 1 ~ 2 days ago, not much was clear, which is why I used no absolutes.

And an interesting view of Habeas Corpus in Japan was presented last year in an article in Japan Times by Professor Colin P.A. Jones of Doshisa Law School, Kyoto.

An extract in part -

".......So, it is technically correct to say Japan has habeas corpus. It is also correct to describe the text of the law as providing prompt judicial remedies for unlawful detentions. In fact, habeas corpus offers a wonderful example of how you can state two factually accurate things about the Japanese legal system and still completely mislead your audience.*

Old remedy gets second life

The Supreme Court also changed the law through a rule requiring detentions to be “conspicuously unlawful” in order to be eligible for habeas corpus relief. This was significant: “Minor” abuses by police or procedural violations by prosecutors or other judges would not be subjected to scrutiny through a habeas corpus hearing, because the petitions would be rejected for lack of conspicuousness.

It also meant that in the rare case that a petition was granted, the hearing held as a result would be meaningless. Why? Because by granting the petition, the court had already decided the detention was conspicuously unlawful — no bothersome arguing of facts and law in a courtroom for us, please!

The Supreme Court rules created numerous escape hatches for judges to allow even serious deprivations of freedom to continue. Under the rules, a court can grant a remedy other than immediate freedom — for a conspicuously unlawful detention! Another rule says that a petition cannot be brought over the objection of a detainee’s freely expressed objections....."

I believe the U.N. also has criticized Japan on what it sees as abuses of the rights to Habeas Corpus.

But all of that hypothesizing aside, the interesting point above all for me, is how swift the process has been in this case. Quite the Ferrari, in a Judicial world known for donkeys.

I think Japan will back down and apologize, and; Daimler,Renault,Nissan&Mitsubishi will form the biggest and most successful car Corporation, and the shares will rise.

I would like them to produce more hybrids and electrics, because Global Warming is real.

And I think Carlos Ghosn is the man to do this.

So in ten days, all back to normal, with a change of CEO.

Nissan was a failing company and mired in old ways.

Carlos Ghosn made the company profitable again and led it into the international arena.

To think that any company, especially a car company can survive without international partnerships is deluded.

Nissan management comes across as being petty and small minded!

This happened with Olympus back in 2011 or 2012. It was not a purchase by a foreign company, rather a British -CEO- came to the helm and Pandora's Box was opened.

Thankfully that British CEO found lot of cover up in the begining before he got implicated with things that might lead him guilty like other inside Olympus. Even worst, before other people inside Olympus set him up to sign things that might against him in the future.

Everything in this fiasco is so typical of the Japanese. They will use a foreigner as long as necessary or required and then tear them down and burn them at the stake, all the time crying crocodile tears , begging for sympathy and creating waves of hysteria in Japan and throughout the world. When will people wake up to reality.