Nissan Motor Company chairman Carlos Ghosn has been arrested over claims of financial misconduct, the carmaker has said.

 

Ghosn, a major figure in the car industry, will be sacked from the Japanese firm after a board meeting on Thursday, its chief executive said.

 

He has been accused of "significant acts of misconduct", including under-reporting his pay package and personal use of company assets.

 

The company said based on a whistleblower report, Nissan has been conducting an internal investigation over the past several months regarding misconduct involving Ghosn and representative director Greg Kelly.

 

The investigation showed that over many years both Ghosn and Kelly have been reporting compensation amounts in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report that were less than the actual amount, in order to reduce the disclosed amount of Ghosn’s compensation, a press release said.

 

"Also, in regards to Ghosn, numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered, such as personal use of company assets, and Kelly’s deep involvement has also been confirmed," it said.

 

"Nissan has been providing information to the Japanese Public Prosecutors Office and has been fully cooperating with their investigation. We will continue to do so," it added.

 

As the misconduct uncovered through the internal investigation constitutes clear violations of the duty of care as directors, Nissan’s chief executive officer Hiroto Saikawa will propose to the Nissan board of directors to promptly remove Ghosn from his positions as chairman and representative director. Saikawa will also propose the removal of Kelly from his position as representative director, it said.

 

As well as being chairman of Nissan, Ghosn is also chairman and chief executive of Renault and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors. In addition, he is chairman and chief executive of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors strategic alliance. 

 

"I feel despair, indignation and resentment," said Saikawa at a news conference. "As the details are disclosed I believe that people will feel the same way as I feel today," he added.

 

Saikawa said he believed the misconduct "went on for a long period" and Nissan would now try to "stabilise the situation, and normalise day-to-day operations" for staff and business partners.

 

According to Japanese media reports, which have not been confirmed, he under-reported an amount totalling 5 billion yen ($44 million) over a five-year period from 2011. - TradeArabia News Service