BEIRUT >> Carlos Ghosn said today that the $1 billion lawsuit he recently filed against Nissan and others is just the beginning of his fight.
The former Nissan CEO, in an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, said that if he had been an American citizen and had filed a lawsuit in the United States, given his suffering, he “would not be asking for a billion dollars, but much more.” .
Ghosn ran Japanese automaker Nissan for two decades, saving it from near bankruptcy before being arrested in Japan in November 2018 for embezzlement, misusing company assets for personal gain and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation.
He fled Japan for Lebanon in December 2019, where he has lived ever since.
Ghosn is wanted in Japan and France. Since fleeing to Lebanon, Beirut has received three communications from Interpol based on arrest warrants issued against him by those countries. In France, he faces a series of legal challenges including tax evasion and suspected money laundering, fraud and misappropriation of company assets while at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance.
Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan and does not extradite its citizens.
Ghosn holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship.
Ghosn was held in solitary confinement in Japan for months without being allowed to speak to his wife. He said he fled the country fearing he would not have a chance at a fair trial.
Ghosn said it took him more than three years to file the lawsuit because he wanted it to be as solid as possible based on evidence, facts and (and) witnesses.” He added, “Our intention is to win it. So in order to win it, it has to be backed up by a lot of facts.” That’s why it took a lot of time.”
The date for the hearing of the case by the Lebanese Public Prosecutor’s Office is set for September 18.
Half of the money demanded from the 69-year-old Ghosn is intended for damages, the other half for compensation including salary, pension plans and stock options.
Ghosn is also demanding financial compensation from a Lebanon-based Nissan subsidiary, companies involved in the investigation leading up to his arrest and companies that obtained documents and computers from his homes.
When AP in Tokyo reached out to him for comment on the lawsuit, a Nissan official said, “We will not comment.”
Ghosn fled Japan after posting $14 million bail in a Hollywood-esque adventure. His unlikely escape – hidden in a box in the hold of a private jet bound for Turkey – embarrassed Japanese authorities and allowed him to evade trial.
However, Ghosn claims he was illegally ousted from the company.
“They don’t want companies to reconcile weaponizing the legal system to stage a coup where they can’t legally change management,” Ghosn said. “They’re using the legal system to get rid of management and set up new management, and that’s what Nissan did.”
Ghosn said he had no choice but to take action against Nissan regardless of the chances of winning his lawsuit.
“Honestly, I’m not very optimistic about the future of the company,” Ghosn said.
Ghosn said he believed in the Lebanese judicial system more than the Japanese one.
“You can defend yourself,” he said. He added: “I have experienced the Japanese legal system, the so-called judicial system, which, by the way, I criticize from my own experience.”
“The first time I was able to speak up and defend myself was when I arrived in Lebanon,” he said.
Ghosn claims to be the victim of a Nissan-led character assassination campaign, backed by the Japanese government and aided by accomplices in France.
Prosecutors in Japan have charged three Americans with helping Ghosn flee the country.
When asked if the lawsuit he’s filed means he wants to fight back, Ghosn said, “This is the beginning of the fight.”