Nissan showed its former CEO who’s “The Boss” as it won a battle in court ordering Carlos Ghosn to return a 121-foot yacht of that name, along with $32 million in damages. That’s the latest twist in a battle that began when the executive was arrested for alleged financial crimes in 2018.
In better days: Carlos Ghosn addressing a crowd at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show.
It seemed an appropriate name when Carlos Ghosn took possession of the Custom Line Navetta 37 yacht and named it “Shachou,” Japanese for “The Boss.” He had, after all, risen to the pinnacle of power as chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. But all that started swirling around the drain in November 2018.
Flying into Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Ghosn was handcuffed, whisked off his corporate jet and rushed to a Tokyo jail where he’d spend much of the following year in solitary confinement. Eventually, after being granted house arrest, Ghosn pulled off a daring escape, making it to his ancestral home in Lebanon.
Ever since, he and the Euro-Japanese alliance have been locked in a series of legal battles, laying out claims and counterclaims. Among other things, Nissan laid claim to the yacht and has now scored an initial victory in court. If the ruling holds, it will get the boat back, along with $32 million in damages.
The back story
Carlos and Carol Ghosn are both wanted by Japanese police for their role in his daring 2019 escape.
Originally sent to Japan by Renault to help manage its bailout of the then-struggling Japanese automaker, Ghosn eventually rose to become CEO of Nissan. He later was named chairman of the two companies, as well the third member of the alliance, Mitsubishi.
But that all came tumbling down when Ghosn was arrested and charged by an assortment of financial crimes, including concealing some of his pay. He was locked up in a tiny, unheated cell for much of the following 9 months, only eventually winning house arrest at a rented Tokyo home where he was barred from even meeting with family members. But Ghosn engineered a bold escape that saw him carried out of the house in a cargo box, loaded onto one jet, then transferred to another before landing in Beirut.
Now 70, Ghosn has repeatedly denied the allegations made by both Nissan and Japanese prosecutors – though he faces legal issues in a number of other countries – as well as an international arrest warrant that essentially keeps him locked into Lebanon which has declined to extradite the one-time executive back to Japan.
A Custom Line Navetta 37 yacht similar to the one Ghosn has been ordered to surrender.
The yacht
Critics contend Ghosn was far too loose with the Nissan checkbook, pointing to things like his own, lavish 2016 marriage to the former Carol Nahas.
Nissan has gone after Ghosn in a number of jurisdictions, among other thing filing a $100 million claim in Yokohama court. It has accused its former boss of shifting $32 million from a CEO Reserve Fund to various entities controlled by him and his family members.
But the yacht has been an even bigger bone of contention – quite literally – as it measures 121 feet, stem to stern. That includes California-based Shogun Investments. According to Automotive News, that operation used some of that money to purchase the please craft through Beauty Yachts Pty Ltd which is registered in the British Virgin Islands.
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The court decision
Now isolated in Lebanon, Ghosn has continued claiming his innocence while blaming Nissan for engineering a coup against him.
It appears Ghosn will have to charter a boat next time he wants to go for a cruise – at least if the decision by the British Virgin Islands High Court is left standing.
“It is in the Court’s respectful judgment clear as a matter of fact that the sums paid away from Nissan/NME [Nissan Middle East] were for purposes other than the proper purposes of Nissan or NME; and the payments to Mr. Ghosn, Beauty Yachts and Shogun were made in order to benefit Mr. Ghosn or his nominees,” High Court Judge Gerhard Wallbank wrote in a 56-page judgment.
The decision drew praise from Nissan which issued a statement saying it “ will continue such efforts to make Carlos Ghosn accountable for his misconduct.”
Ghosn fights back
From the moment he was allowed to address the media following his 2018 arrest, Ghosn has repeatedly insisted he is innocent, arguing on one occasion that he was the victim of a “coup” by Japanese insiders who wanted to wrest back control of Nissan from its French alliance partner. (The two companies this past year reached agreement on a deal giving Nissan much more power and autonomy in spending nd decision-making.)
For his part, Ghosn has filed a suit of his own against Nissan in Lebanese court seeking $1 billion in damages and compensation. Even if he were to win it’s unclear if or how he’d be able to collect. According to various news reports, the once-wealthy executive has spent much of his fortune on legal bills and the latest decision against him could further strain his resources.
Meanwhile, he remains a sort of prisoners limited in his travel opportunities. Both France and Japan have filed arrest warrants that could be enforced in many other parts of the world. For now, Ghosn remains in Lebanon which does not extradite its citizens, no matter the alleged crime.
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