Ghosn suspected of using Nissan fund in handling personal investment

Carlos Ghosn, the ousted chairman of Nissan Motor Co. who suffered a third arrest warrant Friday, allegedly employed a Nissan fund as reward to an acquaintance for the help of dealing with a private investment, local media reported Saturday.

Ghosn allegedly paid 14.7 million U.S. dollars to a Saudi Arabian acquaintance, Kyodo News reported, quoting sources familiar with the matter.

The amount was taken from Nissan's "CEO reserves," which were intended for covering expenses for unexpected business operations outside the regular budget.

The payment was given to the acquaintance as a reward for transferring an investment contract with Japan's Shinsei Bank from Nissan to Ghosn's personal asset management firm by providing a credit guarantee, according to the sources.

The former Nissan chairman was given a fresh arrest warrant Friday for allegedly having the Japanese automaker shouldering his personal investment losses of some 1.85 billion yen (16.6 million dollars).

It was the third arrest warrant for Ghosn following the ones for claims that he had underreported remuneration in securities reports.

Ghosn was initially arrested on Nov. 19 for allegedly understating about 5 billion yen (45 million dollars) of his 10-billion-yen compensation during the five years through March 2015.

He was given a second arrest warrant on Dec. 10 for allegedly understating an additional 4.27 billion yen (38.4 million dollars) for the three years through March this year.

Under the Japanese law, a suspect could be detained for up to 23 days for an arrest warrant served by police and 22 days for a warrant served by prosecutors. As authorities can add charges with fresh warrants, a person could be detained indefinitely if approved by a court.

The latest warrant came as a surprise as Ghosn was expected to be nearing release on bail from the Tokyo Detention House since his first arrest.

Japanese Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita told reporters on Friday that the arrest and detentions are in accordance with Japan's relative laws and regulations.

Ghosn admitted to the Tokyo prosecutors his remuneration was not fully reported in the securities reports, but maintained that he did not have to report payments that have yet to be settled, said local reports quoting investigative sources.

Ghosn, a French citizen born in Brazil, joined Nissan in 1999 and brought the ailing automaker out of its financial difficulties under a capital alliance with Renault. He became Renault's CEO in 2005.

Mitsubishi Motors joined the Nissan-Renault alliance in 2016. Renault owns a 43.4-percent stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds a 15-percent stake in Renault and a 34-percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors.

Following his arrest, Ghosn has been dismissed from office by Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., triggering a leadership battle in the Nissan-Renault SA-Mitsubishi Motors Corp. automotive alliance.