Carlos Ghosn was barred from attending a board meeting at Nissan's office on Monday, March 11. The former chairman of the auto company was out on bail for his financial misconduct charges and under the terms of his temporary release, he cannot be in touch with people who may also be involved in the case like CEO Hiroto Saikawa, thus he was forbidden to show up at the conference.
The Japan Times reported that the court's rejection of Carlos Ghosn's request to be at the board meeting also thwarted the possibility of a faceoff with his former colleagues he had accused of inciting a coup. On the other hand, if he was given the permission, the meeting would have been the disgraced executive's chance to speak with his co-workers regarding the allegations hurled against him.
"Mr. Ghosn requested to attend the board meeting but the court did not approve his attendance," the spokesman of the Tokyo District Court said in a statement.
The 65-year-old businessman was arrested in November 2018 for his failure to declare how much salary he is really getting from Nissan. It was alleged that he under-reported his wage by as much as $82 million for nearly a decade.
Consequently, shortly after his arrest, Nissan removed Ghosn from his office. However, since he was fired without holding any shareholders' meeting, his removal is not official yet. Since this is the case, the board had scheduled a conference on April 8.
Ghosn was released from prison on March 6 after posting $9 million bails. He was in detention for over 100 days before the court agreed to allow him to secure bail.
Aside from not contacting anyone from Nissan, the other conditions stipulated in Ghosn's bail terms include having his home monitored through camera installation outside of his residence. Also, he cannot use the internet and he is only allowed to use the computer at his lawyer's office.
While still working as an executive, Carlos Ghosn has been maintaining an alliance among the three leading car brands - Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi Motors. But following his arrest, a conflict within the company was exposed and it turned out that the relationship between the Japanese and French manufacturers is not good.
Finally, with Ghosn out of the picture, sources revealed that a new structure is being planned to merge the three mentioned automakers. This new system will replace the current organization to create a better future for the companies.
