Carlos Ghosn sues Nissan for $1bn over dismissal in 2018 – Kommersant

Former head of Nissan Motor Carlos Ghosn has filed a lawsuit against the company and a number of people associated with it for his dismissal in 2018 and the organization of the arrest for financial violations. In his lawsuit, filed in the Court of Cassation in Lebanon, Mr Ghosn seeks $1 billion in damages for the “serious damage” caused by these actions to his financial position and reputation. The agency got acquainted with the lawsuit filed on May 18 Bloomberg.

The former top executive who brought about the financial renaissance of Nissan Motor and was behind the creation of the Renault-Mitsubishi Motors alliance, accused in Japan for hiding $74 million in income and using Nissan funds for personal purposes. At the end of 2019 Mr. Gon fled from Japan from house arrest, under which he was placed during the investigation. After fleeing from court, Carlos Ghosn settled in Lebanon, whose authorities do not intend to extradite him to Japan or others countries also seeking his extradition.

In the May lawsuit, Mr. Ghosn argues that the “serious and sensitive allegations” against him “will remain in people’s minds for years.” In his opinion, he will “suffer for the rest of his life from this”, even if these accusations are not substantiated and are based on “simple suspicions”. Mr. Ghosn estimates that in the time that has passed since he was fired from Nissan, he lost $588 million.

In addition to this amount, he is also seeking $500 million in punitive damages against Nissan. Among the defendants in the lawsuit, along with Nissan, there are also several employees, managers and members of the company’s board of directors, who, according to the plaintiff, had a hand in his dismissal. In total, the lawsuit lists more than a dozen defendants. Hearings in the Lebanese court on this claim are scheduled for September.

Commenting on the filing of the lawsuit by Bloomberg, Carlos Ghosn said it was “just a small response to the damage they have done.” “I don’t think they can fix what they did, because the damage is very significant,” he said, “but this lawsuit should compensate for part of the damage.” Nissan told the agency that they have not yet received this lawsuit, so they cannot comment on it.

Alena Miklashevskaya