After last Thursday Nissan's board of directors voted in favor of the removal of Carlos Ghosn from the positions of chairman and representative director of the brand, Mitsubishi took an identical step and decided to remove him from the chairmanship.
Mitsubishi's board of directors met today, for about an hour, and unanimously decided to follow Nissan's example and remove Carlos Ghosn as chairman. The position will be occupied, interim, by the CEO of the brand, Osamu Masuko, will assume functions until the successor of Ghosn is chosen.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting, Masuko said that "it was an agonizing decision" and that the reason for the decision to dismiss Carlos Ghosn was to "protect the company".
Renault launches audit and removes Ghosn, but does not fire him.
Renault is conducting an audit of the remuneration of its Chief Executive, Carlos Ghosn. The information was released yesterday by the French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire.
According to Bruno Le Maire, Ghosn he will only be dismissed when there are “concrete accusations”.
Although Thierry Bolloré was named interim CEO and Philippe Lagayette was named non-executive chairman, Carlos Ghosn, remains, for the time being, the role of chairman and CEO of Renault.
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Remember that the French state controls, to date, 15% of Renault. Therefore, according to the French Minister of Economy and Finance, this audit had the backing of the entire executive.
Carlos Ghosn is suspected of tax fraud and was arrested on Monday, November 19, 2018, after allegedly withholding several tens of millions of euros from Japanese finance. According to some media, the value could reach 62 million euros, corresponding to income obtained since 2011.
In addition to the alleged tax crimes, Ghosn is also accused of having used company money for personal purposes. In Japan, a crime of falsifying financial information can lead to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Technically, Carlos Ghosn still holds the position of director at Nissan and Mitsubishi, since he can only be officially removed after a shareholders' meeting has taken place and they have voted in favor of his removal.
Sources: Automotive News Europe, Motor1, Negócios and Jornal Público.