Former Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn rejected any impropriety over payments he made during his reign at the automaker, after a newspaper report that Japanese tax authorities determined he used company funds for private use.
“Mr. Ghosn categorically rejects that there was anything improper about the payments or donations at issue, all of which were made for the benefit of Nissan,” according to a statement released by a spokesman.
“There is nothing new in these accusations, which arise from inquiries by the tax authorities and taxes paid by Nissan years ago,” the statement stated.
“The prosecutors’ decision to leak them now, only days after Mr. Ghosn publicly released court filings detailing extensive prosecutorial misconduct and previewing his defenses for the first time, is a transparent effort to distract from the failings of their case.”
Japan’s Yomiuri reported on Tuesday the nation’s tax authorities had determined Ghosn used funds for private use, bolstering the automaker’s case that he diverted corporate funds for personal benefit.
The Japanese newspaper, without mentioning sources, stated the National Tax Agency found Ghosn used Nissan money for several years to pay consultant fees to his sister for fictitious work and to get donations to a university in Lebanon.
Ghosn holds Lebanese nationality. He is awaiting trial in Japan on charges of financial misconduct, which he rejects.
