'I will be in Lebanon for a while': Five years on the run for Nissan's Carlos Ghosn

Fugitive motor tycoon says Japan has refused to pass files on financial misconduct case to Lebanon

Fugitive car tycoon Carlos Ghosn said on Monday he expects to remain exiled in Lebanon “for a while” as he marks five years since his dramatic escape from Japan.

The former Nissan chief executive, who is wanted by France and Japan over financial misconduct claims, says he remains “blocked in Lebanon” due to an Interpol red notice issued after he fled Tokyo in a musical equipment case. Mr Ghosn has Lebanese, French and Brazilian nationality, and Lebanon does not extradite its citizens.

Mr Ghosn, 70, said prosecutors in Japan had refused a request to hand over the case file so that he could stand trial in Lebanon. “I can understand they don’t want to transmit it because they know the whole thing is fake,” he told a press conference.

Lebanon told Japan that “if you want justice to be done please transmit the file to Lebanese legal system and we will try Mr Ghosn in Lebanon for the crimes he has been accused of”, he said. “Obviously the prosecutor refused that … this whole thing is made up. I would love to look at what is in these files.

“I will be here for a while … but I have hope that one day I will be able to travel in the world and go and seek all my different interests in different countries,” he said. Asked about life in Lebanon, he said the country faces a difficult political and economic situation in which things could go in “every possible direction”.

Carlos Ghosn through the years – in pictures

Former Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn in France in 1998. Getty Images

Mr Ghosn, British prime minister Tony Blair and trade secretary Stephen Byers, right, announce the expansion of the carmaker's plant in Sunderland in January 2001. Getty Images

Carlos Ghosn at the Tokyo unveiling of the latest model of Nissan's Primera sedan in 2001. Reuters

Mr Ghosn poses in front of the Jikoo concept car at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show. Getty Images

Former Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn speaks at news conference at the carmaker's Tokyo headquarters in 2004. Reuters

Mr Ghosn takes a ride in a Nissan Pivo concept car ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005. Reuters

Mr Ghosn meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at St Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2006. Reuters

The former executive presents the Renault Koleos four-wheel drive concept car at the Paris Mondial de l'Automobile in 2006. Reuters

Mr Ghosn and family members attend gala screening of Serbian director Emir Kusturica's film Promise Me This at Cannes Film Festival in 2007. Reuters

Mr Ghosn is seeking more than $1 billion from Nissan, including $500 million in moral damages. Reuters

The former executive was arrested in Japan in November 2018 amid allegations he under-reported his earnings and misappropriated company funds. Reuters

The former automotive executive addresses journalists in Beirut after leaving Japan in January 2020 ahead of his financial misconduct trial. AFP

Mr Ghosn poses for a selfie after a press conference to launch a joint initiative with the University of Kaslik in Jounieh, Lebanon in September 2020. AFP

Nissan accused Mr Ghosn of diverting millions of dollars of company funds for his own benefit, claiming he used the funds to buy a 37-metre yacht and properties in Beirut and Rio de Janeiro. He was arrested in 2018 but had yet to face trial in Japan when he was spirited to Lebanon five years ago.

Japan rejected his account of a “hostage justice” system designed to force him into a confession, saying he would have received a fair trial. France has also sought his arrest, and a court in the British Virgin Islands recently ordered him to return $32 million to Nissan.

Mr Ghosn denies wrongdoing, claiming he is the victim of a plot orchestrated by “old boys” at Nissan. Last year he sued the company for $1 billion in a Lebanese court, saying he would suffer from “persistent and lingering impacts” of his case for the rest of his life even though they were based on “mere suspicion”.

Nissan in talks on Honda merger

Also facing stiff competition from China's electric car boom, Nissan sought to put its troubles behind it on Monday with an announcement that it hopes to merge with Honda by 2026. A joint statement says Nissan must first take action to “turn around its performance and create a leaner, more resilient business”.

The merger would create the world's third-largest auto group by vehicle sales after Toyota and Volkswagen, and a chance to share resources in the face of intense competition from Chinese rivals and Elon Musk's Tesla. Mitsubishi Motors is also considering joining.

Nissan and Honda hope to list a joint company on Tokyo's stock exchange in 2026 if a merger goes ahead. Bloomberg

“Bringing together the resources including knowledge, talents, and technologies that Honda and Nissan have been developing over the long years is essential to overcome challenging environmental shifts that the auto industry is facing,” Honda director Toshihiro Mibe said.

Asked about the potential fusion on Monday, Mr Ghosn said he did not believe a Honda-Nissan alliance would be successful. He said Nissan “has been marginalised by its own weaknesses and by its own mistakes”.

“I was really a little bit stunned to see Nissan spending so much money on legal fees to fight me while they need all these resources to really do their job, which is not that, but trying to be relevant in the car market,” he said.