Shareholders of Nissan called a meeting on Monday to remove the company's boss Carlos Ghosn from the board. The decision to oust him came after his second arrest in Tokyo last week. He was charged for multiple financial misconduct allegations and has been detained without bail.
According to BBC News, the Nissan shareholders also voted to get rid of Greg Kelly, US executive who served as Ghosn's right-hand man. He is also facing charges in Japan and can be detained as well.
At the meeting, the board appointed the Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard as the new director. The extraordinary shareholders' meeting is the first to take place since Carlos Ghosn was arrested on Nov. 19 last year.
The Guardian reported that the meeting for the ousting of Ghosn opened with a speech by Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa. He listed the allegations hurled against the former director of the company and then they voted for his removal.
Nissan sacked Ghosn as chairman almost immediately after his initial arrest but an extraordinary meeting of shareholders is required to remove him from the board and approved Senard's appointment as the new chairman.
"We have to admit that there was a significant problem with our corporate governance," Saikawa said in his speech. "I was extremely shocked when I learned of the misconduct."
Isamu Beppus, a shareholder, also said in the meeting, "Nissan's government isn't working well. I really regret that. If there is no rebuilding of its governance, there will be no revival."
Carlos Ghosn has been rearrested late last week and his three charges at the time of the arrest are different from the first ones that were slapped to him last year. The first two is in connection with the claims that he deferred about US$80 million in income and covered this up in the official documents shared to the shareholders.
The third claim is about Ghosn's supposed attempt to move his personal losses to Nissan and used the company funds to pay a Saudi partner who provided collateral and some personal properties.
Carlos Ghosn called his second arrest while out on a bail as an outrageous move. He also accused the Nissan officials as trying to bring him down but he remarked that they will not succeed because he will never be broken.
