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Tokyo court approves another detention of ex-Nissan boss Ghosn, until Jan 11
japantoday.com | Dec. 31. 2018
....(Ghosn) was served a fresh arrest warrant on Dec 21 for allegedly transferring personal investment losses worth 1.85 billion yen ($17 million) to the Japanese automaker in 2008.
Ghosn has denied the allegations. The previous deadline for his current detention period had been set on Jan 1.
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Russell wrote:Mike Oxlong wrote:Apparently the statue of limitations is seven years, making 2015 the limit for charging him with that crime, but the prosecutors position is the time he spent out of Japan doesn't count.
That is a seriously fucked way of thinking. Would that really hold up in court in Japan?
Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn refused to sign a confession in return for being released from custody, his son told a French newspaper Sunday, and will “vigorously” defend himself in a Japanese court this week.
The former Nissan chief, who has been held since his shock arrest in November on allegations of financial misconduct, is due to appear in a Japanese court Tuesday to hear the reasons for his detention.
He will give his version of events for the first time, his son Anthony told the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD).
The father of four has gone from heading a powerful international auto alliance to languishing in a Tokyo detention center, where his stay has been repeatedly extended.
Anthony told the JDD that his father would be released if he signed a confession.
He can “tell the prosecutor that he is contesting the charges or instead he could confess and be released. For seven weeks his decision has been quite clear,” he said.
“The paradox is that the confession he has been asked to sign is written only in Japanese,” adding that his father does not understand it.
He added that the defense does not yet have a complete file on the case.
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matsuki wrote:Russell wrote:Mike Oxlong wrote:Apparently the statue of limitations is seven years, making 2015 the limit for charging him with that crime, but the prosecutors position is the time he spent out of Japan doesn't count.
That is a seriously fucked way of thinking. Would that really hold up in court in Japan?
Apparently, Japan is in another dimension when it's legally convenient.
jingai wrote:I doubt he was railroaded by the company.
Mike Oxlong wrote:Chugoku mitai!
matsuki wrote:Mike Oxlong wrote:Chugoku mitai!
China is on another level when comes to tracking/making people disappear.
matsuki wrote:So much for unique Japaneezu coercive "justice."
In the same vein, over the holidays one of my friends got knockdafuqout by her boyfriend at a local shopping mall right in front of the cashier. Dude just lost his shit at something she said and gave her a full reach back fist to the side of her head. No doubt of dumb shit girls say but dayam....Police/Ambulance show up and they did everything in their power to avoid filing any police report. They "threatened" her with how much inconvenience it would cause her family until she finally gave in and just let him walk. Justice served Japanese style!
Mike Oxlong wrote:matsuki wrote:So much for unique Japaneezu coercive "justice."
In the same vein, over the holidays one of my friends got knockdafuqout by her boyfriend at a local shopping mall right in front of the cashier. Dude just lost his shit at something she said and gave her a full reach back fist to the side of her head. No doubt of dumb shit girls say but dayam....Police/Ambulance show up and they did everything in their power to avoid filing any police report. They "threatened" her with how much inconvenience it would cause her family until she finally gave in and just let him walk. Justice served Japanese style!
You should offer to teach him how to play hockey.
“I have always acted with integrity and have never been accused of any wrongdoing in my several-decade professional career. I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” the 64-year-old, whose hair was greying at the roots, told a packed courtroom.
He added: “Contrary to the accusations made by the prosecutors, I never received any compensation from Nissan that was not disclosed, nor did I ever enter into any binding contract with Nissan to be paid a fixed amount that was not disclosed.”
His lawyer had demanded the court justify his client’s continued detention in connection with a case that has shaken the Japanese carmaker’s alliance with Renault and prompted criticism of Japan’s treatment of suspects.
Mike Oxlong wrote:ようこそTOKYO2020へ
Mike Oxlong wrote:And the press conference I just watched on the FCCJ YouTube livestream will add fuel to the fire.
matsuki wrote:Mike Oxlong wrote:And the press conference I just watched on the FCCJ YouTube livestream will add fuel to the fire.
Can you enlighten us on what happened there?
Mike Oxlong wrote:Off the top of my head, the biggest thing was that Ghosn is likely to spend the next six months or so in jail until the trial begins. That's if he is formally indicted on breech of trust charges later in the week, and the customary denial of bail happens.
Mike Oxlong wrote:Other tidbits include that the Nissan CFO and lawyers were consulted for the various transactions he has been accused of taking unilaterally and illegally, and that he was not solely in charge of various company funds he has been accused of misusing. Apparently the prosecutors have all the Nissan paperwork relating to this, so we don't need to worry about *Nissan* tampering with evidence (further).
Mike Oxlong wrote:I saw Adelstein in the audience, so there should be something on The Daily Beast in a while. I just checked, he did live tweet it. You're best bet is to check his Twitter.
January 7, 2019
Statement of Carlos Ghosn
Your Honor,
I am grateful to finally have the opportunity to speak publicly. I look forward to beginning the process of defending myself against the accusations that have been made against me.
First, let me say that I have a genuine love and appreciation for Nissan. I believe strongly that in all of my efforts on behalf of the company, I have acted honorably, legally, and with the knowledge and approval of the appropriate executives inside the company—with the sole purpose of supporting and strengthening Nissan, and helping to restore its place as one of Japan's finest and most respected companies.
Now I would like to address the allegations.
1.The FX Forward contracts
When I first joined Nissan and moved to Japan almost 20 years ago, I wanted to be paid in U.S. dollars, but was told that that was not possible and was given an employment contract that required me to be paid in Japanese yen. I have long been concerned about the volatility of the yen relative to the U.S. dollar. I am a U.S. dollar-based individual—my children live in the U.S. and I have strong ties to Lebanon, whose currency has a fixed exchange rate against the U.S. dollar. I wanted predictability in my income in order to help me take care of my family.
To deal with this issue, I entered into foreign exchange contracts throughout my tenure at Nissan, beginning in 2002. Two such contracts are at issue in this proceeding. One was signed in 2006, when the Nissan stock price was around 1500 yen and the yen/dollar rate was around 118. The other was signed in 2007, when the Nissan stock price was around 1400 yen and the yen/dollar exchange rate was around 114.
The 2008–2009 financial crisis caused Nissan's shares to plummet to 400 yen in October 2008 and to 250 yen in February 2009 (down more than 80% from its peak) and the yen/dollar exchange rate dropped below 80. It was a perfect storm that no one predicted. The entire banking system was frozen, and the bank asked for an immediate increase in my collateral on the contracts, which I could not satisfy on my own.
I was faced with two stark choices:
1. Resign from Nissan, so that I could receive my retirement allowance, which I could then use to provide the necessary collateral. But my moral commitment to Nissan would not allow me to step down during that crucial time; a captain doesn't jump ship in the middle of a storm.
2. Ask Nissan to temporarily take on the collateral, so long as it came to no cost to the company, while I gathered collateral from my other sources.
I chose option 2. The FX contracts were then transferred back to me without Nissan incurring any loss.
2.Khaled Juffali
Khaled Juffali has been a long-time supporter and partner of Nissan. During a very difficult period, Khaled Juffali Company helped Nissan solicit financing and helped Nissan solve a complicated problem involving a local distributor—indeed, Juffali helped Nissan restructure struggling distributors throughout the Gulf region, enablingNissan to better compete with rivals like Toyota, which was outperforming Nissan. Juffali also assisted Nissan in negotiating the development of a manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia, organizing high-level meetings with Saudi officials.
Khaled Juffali Company was appropriately compensated—an amount disclosed to and approved by the appropriate officers at Nissan—in exchange for these critical services that substantially benefited Nissan.
3.The FIEL Allegations
Four major companies sought to recruit me while I was CEO of Nissan, including Ford (by Bill Ford) and General Motors (by Steve Rattner, the then-Car Czar under President Barack Obama). Even though their proposals were very attractive, I could not in good conscience abandon Nissan while we were in the midst of ourturnaround. Nissan is an iconic Japanese company that I care about deeply. Although I chose not to pursue the other opportunities, I did keep a record of the market compensation for my role, which those companies offeredme if I had taken these jobs. This was an internal benchmark that I kept for my own future reference—it had no legal effect; it was never shared with the directors; and it never represented any kind of binding commitment. Infact, the various proposals for non-compete and advisory services post-retirement made by some members of the board did not reflect or reference my internal calculations, underscoring their hypothetical, non-binding nature.
Contrary to the accusations made by the prosecutors, I never received any compensation from Nissan that was not disclosed, nor did I ever enter into any binding contract with Nissan to be paid a fixed amount that was not disclosed. Moreover, I understood that any draft proposals for post-retirement compensation were reviewed by internal and external lawyers, showing I had no intent to violate the law. For me, the test is the "death test": if I died today, could my heirs require Nissan to pay anything other than my retirement allowance? The answer is an unequivocal "No."
4.Contribution to Nissan
I have dedicated two decades of my life to reviving Nissan and building the Alliance. I worked toward these goals day and night, on the earth and in the air, standing shoulder to shoulder with hardworking Nissan employees around the globe, to create value. The fruits of our labors have been extraordinary. We transformed Nissan, moving it from a position of a debt of 2 trillion yen in 1999 to cash of 1.8 trillion yen at the end of 2006, from 2.5 million cars sold in 1999 at a significant loss to 5.8 million cars sold profitably in 2016. Nissan's asset base tripled during the period. We saw the revival of icons like the Fairlady Z and Nissan G-TR; Nissan's industrial entry into Wuhon, China, St. Petersburg, Russia, Chennai, India, and Resende, Brazil; the pioneering of a mass market for electric cars with the Leaf; the jumpstarting of autonomous cars; the introduction of Mitsubishi Motors to the Alliance; and the Alliance becoming the number one auto group in the world in 2017, producing more than 10 million cars annually. We created,directly and indirectly, countless jobs in Japan and reestablished Nissan as a pillar of the Japanese economy.
These accomplishments—secured alongside the peerless team of Nissan employees worldwide—are the greatest joy of my life, next to my family.
5.Conclusion
Your Honor, I am an innocent of the accusations made against me. I have always acted with integrity and have never been accused of any wrongdoing in my several-decade professional career. I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations.
Thank you, your Honor, for listening to me.
Mike Oxlong wrote:
One of his Twitter posts was quite interesting.
https://twitter.com/jakeadelstein/statu ... 8282237952
On August 1 in 2015, Mark Karpeles, former CEO of the now-defunct Mt. Gox, a bitcoin exchange that went bankrupt after 650,000 bitcoins (worth nearly $400 million) were stolen, was arrested on minor charges of illegal electronic transfers.
Japanese police and prosecutors believed that he had stolen the coins himself. He was re-arrested twice on other charges and interrogated every day for six to eight hours. The police pressed him to admit to stealing or siphoning off the coins. He was eventually given bail in 2016.
While his trial was ongoing, US authorities captured a suspect in Greece who appears to be the real hacker of Mt. Gox, Russian national Alexander Vinnik. Vinnik is set to be extradited this year. But Japanese prosecutors have refused to allow any evidence in that case to be entered as evidence, claiming “the filings of US prosecutors are unreliable.”
Karpeles faces a verdict on March 15, on charges which have nothing to do with the original theft.
Grumpy Gramps wrote:Whoever has Ghosn's jitsuin, could now make bundles by selling some fiddled "evidence" to the highest bidder. Or maybe theiy're already at it, just need a little more time to make all the stories fit neatly.
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