Ghosn Says He’s a Victim of “Plot and Treason”

Ex-Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn claims his arrest in mid-November was the result of “plot and treason” by executives who oppose his effort to consolidate the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance.

Ghosn tells The Nikkei in his first interview since his incarceration on charges of financial wrongdoing that his aim was to retain the autonomy of each company but integrate them under a single holding company. Nissan has bridled at talks of a merger, complaining that the current alliance structure heavily favors Renault and its largest shareholder, the French government

Ghosn says he shared his consolidation plan with Nissan CEO and former protege Hiroto Saikawa last September. That was about the same time that the Japanese carmaker launched an internal probe into the chairman’s financial affairs.

Ghosn insists that all charges against him are false. He tells The Nikkei that multiple Nissan executives signed off on all the contested issues.

The charges to date claim that Ghosn underreported deferred compensation, transferred personal currency trading losses to the company, improperly paid a Saudi businessman to help him cover those losses and improperly used funds to buy homes for him in Europe, the Middle East and South America.

Ghosn dismisses Saikawa’s assessment that he had amassed excessive power during his reign as the simultaneous chairman of Nissan, Renault, MMC and the Dutch entity that manages the alliance among the three carmakers.

“People translated strong leadership to dictator, to distort reality,” he tells The Nikkei. The purpose, he adds was “getting rid of me.” Ghosn remains in a Tokyo jail and isn’t expected to begin trial until at least June.