Japanese carmaker, Nissan, on Wednesday said that it had filed a civil lawsuit against ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn, seeking 10 billion yen (or 91 million dollars) in damages.
According to Japan’s second-largest car manufacturer, the financial damages are linked to Ghosn’s breach of fiduciary duty as a company Director and his misappropriation of Nissan’s resources and assets.
It added that the claim for damages had been calculated on the basis of costs incurred due to Ghosn and his corrupt practices over the years.
“The size of the damages is expected to increase in future as Nissan seeks to recover fines to be paid to the Japanese Financial Services Agency.
“And likely penalties imposed on the company in criminal proceedings related to Ghosn’s misconduct,” it said.
Ghosn, who once led the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance, fled Japan for Lebanon in December in a daring escape that surprised even his lawyers. Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan.
Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 and has been charged with breach of trust and falsifying financial documents to understate his income. He spent a total of 130 days in Japanese detention.
“I fled injustice and persecution, “ he said.
In January, Ghosn accused some Nissan executives of being behind his arrest as they wanted to stop him from seeking a merger with Renault, which they feared could erode the Japanese carmaker’s independence.
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