Nissan board boots Carlos Ghosn as chairman

Nissan Motor Co.’s board of directors voted to dismiss Carlos Ghosn as its chairman after he was arrested in Japan on suspicion of falsifying financial reports and other misconduct that under-reported nearly $45 million in income.

The company said in a statement Thursday that its aim was to minimize the impact from the case on its alliance with France’s Renault SA and smaller Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motor Corp. It said Ghosn and another executive, Greg Kelly, were also dismissed as board directors.

Nissan’s board held an emergency meeting at the company headquarters in Yokohama on Thursday. The carmaker said in a statement that the unanimous decision was made after the board reviewed a detailed report of an internal investigation into the alleged misconduct.

Tokyo prosecutors say Ghosn is suspected of under-reporting $44.6 million in income from 2011 to 2015. The 64-year-old executive is being held at a detention center in Tokyo, where prosecutors on Wednesday sought permission to detain him for at least 10 more days as they investigate his case. 

At a news conference Thursday, the deputy chief prosecutor Shin Kukimoto, told reporters Ghosn has been allowed to meet with officials from the French Embassy and with a lawyer, though his counsel is not permitted to attend questioning. Kukimoto said Ghosn was being treated just like any other detainee, with three meals a day and eight hours of sleep. He added that the allegations of falsification of financial reporting carry heavy penalties because they distort public markets and violate listed company’s requirements for transparency.

Earlier this week, alliance partner Renault voted to keep Ghosn as its chief executive but appointed Thierry Bollore, the chief operating officer, as interim chief.