The board of directors of Renault has decided to keep Carlos Ghosn as executive chairman of the car group despite the fact that the prosecutors of Japan formally accused him this Monday of having hidden part of their tax revenues for five years. The group has explained that it has not found irregularities in its remuneration, although it will continue investigating from the elements of suspicion that Nissan has transmitted to it.
The arrest occurred on November 19 after an internal investigation in Nissan that would have demonstrated that the high position hid during years part of his salary with the objective of not paying taxes and to divert funds of the company for personal ends.
The internal verification mission of Renault to which on November 23 the board commissioned to examine the remuneration for the period 2015-2018 of Ghosn has concluded that "for now everything is in order," a spokeswoman for the company told Efe on Thursday. .
This means that the amounts and methods of remuneration received as number one by Renault are in accordance with the legal provisions and with the recommendations of the French employers regarding the salaries of the managers. In parallel, the lawyers of Renault have received very recently from their partners of Nissan elements on which the suspicions of the Japanese manufacturer are based that the executive did not declare part of his income in Japan.
The legal services of the French group have not reached any conclusions for the time being from that information and the administrators have requested that they prolong the analysis. Renault stressed that it has no information on what supports the defense of Ghosn against the allegations that weigh on him. That implies that formally Ghosn continues holding the positions of president and chief executive officer, although due to his detention in Japan he is temporarily prevented from practicing in management.
Thierry Bolloré has been in charge of the company since then, and before this scandal broke out, he was number two as deputy general manager last month, while Philippe Lagayette presides over the interim board of directors.
(Published by Spain News, December 13, 2018)