Carlos Ghosn is attempting to clear his name and hopes a visit by French investigators to his home in exile in Lebanon will be his first real opportunity to defend himself since the bombshell arrest that transformed him from a visionary to a prisoner overnight.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the former chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance dissected his legal troubles in Japan, France, and the Netherlands and detailed how he plotted his brazen escape from Osaka, and reflected on his new reality in crisis-hit Lebanon, where he currently resides.
Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on allegations of financial misconduct and fled to Lebanon a year later. He now deals with multiple legal challenges in France after the Japanese allegations triggered scrutiny of his activities there. Meanwhile, several associates are in jail or on trial in Japan and Turkey, in cases associated with his financial activities or escape.
“There has been a lot of collateral damage . . . but I don’t think I’m responsible for that. The people responsible for that are the people who organized the plot”, Ghosn said on his downfall.
The French investigators are looking into the financing of lavish parties Ghosn threw at the Versailles chateau, 11 million euros in spending on private planes and events arranged by a Dutch holding company, and subsidies to an automobile dealership in Oman.
Ghosn has denied any financial misconduct.
“In Japan, you had a Japanese person interrogating me, writing in Japanese and wanting me to sign things in Japanese that I don’t understand,” Ghosn said. “Now I will be speaking in French, and I’ll have my lawyers present. Of course, I have much more confidence in the French legal system than in the Japanese system.”
Ghosn was kept in solitary confinement in Japan for months. He was not allowed to talk with his wife.
He said he fled the country after it was clear to him that he would be having no chances of a fair trial.
His arrest drew international scrutiny and criticism of Japanese legal system.
