It is not every day that you hear of CEOs being listed on a most-wanted list by governments. Well, maybe in movies, but in real life, this hardly happens. CEOs spend most of their time in boardrooms, golf courses, or yachts, but this cannot be said for former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.
If you have not been keeping up with the happenings at Nissan, let's do a recap.
Before we jump into the happenings, let us have a brief introduction to the star of the whole controversy; Mr Carlos Ghosn.
Who Is Carlos Ghosn?
M. Carlos Ghosn is a Lebanese-Brazillian businessman is a former CEO of several companies including Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors, Michelin North America, and Renault. On November 19th, 2018, Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo after landing in his private jet from Lebanon.
He was arrested for false accounting during his tenure as Nissan CEO.
Later that day Hiroto Saikawa, the then Nissan CEO announced that Ghosn was dismissed from the Nissan board. Ghosn and his top aide Greg Kelly were also charged with a violation of security law.
Ghosn was later released on bail before he was subsequently rearrested on December 21st, later that year. This was after Nissan reported a personal loss of $16.6 million. More charges were then brought on which led to prosecution and his sentencing was set to be on the 11th of January, 2019.
With all this going on Carlos Ghosn made a conscious decision and fled Japan on December 30th to Beirut, Lebanon. He claimed that he fled because he faced unjust and rigged prosecution in Japan. With him, out of Japan, the big question is where is he now?
Where Is Carlos Ghosn Now?
After his arrest and subsequent fleeing, Carlos Ghosn has been confirmed to be in Lebanon. While Japan and Lebanon are both members of Interpol, there is no extradition treaty between both countries.
This means that Carlos is in a safe haven in Lebanon. He has given a descriptive interview on his escape from Japan to BBC. He described how he was smuggled out of the country in a box wearing trainers and jeans.
He travelled from Tokyo to Osaka on a train. It was in Osaka where he was bundled up in a private jet that was waiting for him. While he might be safe, those who helped him escape faced jail terms of at least three years.
Notably, Ghosn lives in a house in Beirut which Nissan claims to own and wants him to be evicted from. Nissan is also investigating the possibility that the former CEO funnelled millions into other companies he had control over. So, it looks like the drama for Mr. Ghosn may not be over yet, but only time will tell what will happen next.