Japanese prosecutors charge Ex-Nissan boss with under-reporting his income by £34.5MILLION over five years
- Carlos Ghosn joined Nissan in 1999 and turned the ailing car-maker around
- He stepped down as CEO last year and was then arrested in Tokyo last month
- Prosecutors say he underreported £34.5million in income from 2010 to 2015
- He and fellow Nissan executive Greg Kelly are then jointly charged with underreporting another £28million from 2015 until 2018
Tokyo prosecutors have accused Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn, another executive and the automaker itself of underreporting income.
Ghosn, who was arrested on November 19, was charged on Monday with underreporting his income by 5billion yen ($44million) over the course of five years.
Later the same day charges were added against Ghosn and Greg Kelly, the other executive, of underreporting another 4billion yen ($36million) in more recent years.
Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan, has been charged with underreporting his income by at least $44million over five years
Ghosn is facing up to 10 years in jail if convicted.
Nissan as a company was not mentioned in the latest allegations. In Japan, a company can be charged with wrongdoing.
Moves by prosecutors to formally charge Ghosn came on the day that his detention period was set to end following his arrest.
Greg Kelly, another Nissan executive, is accused of helping Ghosn underreport another $36million in more recent years
Kelly, 62, is suspected of having collaborated with Ghosn. Kelly's attorney in the U.S. says he is asserting his innocence.
Ghosn has not commented.
Ghosn has been ousted as Nissan chairman and Kelly lost his representative director title, following their arrests, but they both remain on the board.
Ghosn, 64, was sent to Nissan by its partner Renault SA of France in 1999. He led a dramatic turnaround of the near-bankrupt Japanese automaker.
But Ghosn's star-level pay drew attention since executives in Japan tend to be paid far less than their international counterparts.
Only Ghosn's attorneys and embassy officials from Lebanon, France and Brazil, where he has citizenship, have been allowed to visit him.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it had filed criminal complaints against Ghosn, Nissan and Kelly.
A commission official said Monday that Nissan, Ghosn and Kelly were suspected of falsifying reports on millions of dollars' worth of Ghosn's income.
Nissan itself has also been accused as part of the case because under Japanese law companies can be charged with wrongdoing
