Ghosn Arrested Again in Japan

Prosecutors in Japan have arrested Carlos Ghosn, the former Chairman of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, on new charges of financial wrongdoing.

It isn’t immediately clear whether Ghosn, who had been released on highly restricted bail last month after 108 days in a Tokyo jail, was returned to custody.

Ghosn already faces three previously filed charges related to financial misdeeds at Nissan. Under Japan’s legal system, prosecutors can detain a suspect indefinitely by periodically filing new claims.

Media reports say Ghosn has been charged for a second time with aggravated breach of trust. The complaint reportedly is about payments worth roughly 3.8 billion ($34 million) to Suhai Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), a vehicle distributor in Oman, for marketing programs.

Media reports say the payments came from a discretionary “CEO reserve” budget controlled by Ghosn. Prosecutors allege that some of those funds were applied to help pay for a yacht bought for Ghosn’s personal use.

Last week Reuters reported that Renault SA had alerted prosecutors in France about a similar misuse of funds from the French company to SBA. Sources told the news service that the funds were routed to a Lebanese company, then moved to private entities in the British Virgin Islands.

From there, some of the cash was forwarded to a California investment firm operated by Ghosn’s son Anthony, who was not aware of their source, according to Reuters.