London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Dec 11, 2025

Ousted Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn reportedly flees house arrest in Tokyo for Lebanon

Ousted Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn reportedly flees house arrest in Tokyo for Lebanon

Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s ousted chairman who was awaiting trial on criminal charges in Japan, flew to Lebanon on Monday evening, several outlets reported.
Whether he has struck a deal with prosecutors or fled is unknown.

Ghosn has denied charges of financial misconduct and misuse of corporate resources while running Nissan.

Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s ousted chairman who was awaiting trial on criminal charges in Japan, flew into Lebanon on Monday evening, France’s Les Echos newspaper reported.

The newspaper cited its own unnamed source and a report in Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour. There was no immediate confirmation from official sources. Whether Ghosn has struck a deal with prosecutors or fled is unknown.

The Financial Times also reported that Ghosn was in Lebanon, according to a source close to his family and “a professional associate.”

Ghosn’s attorney did not have an immediate comment.

It was unclear how Ghosn, who holds both French and Lebanese citizenship, would have been able to leave Japan, where he has been under strict court-imposed restrictions on his movements.

Ghosn was ousted as chairman of Nissan and arrested in Japan a little over a year ago after then CEO Hiroto Saikawa accused him and another executive of a litany of financial misdeeds.

Saikawa abruptly resigned in September after an internal investigation found that he also allegedly pocketed excess pay. Nissan accused Ghosn and former Director Greg Kelly of concealing more than $327 million in payments to themselves and other executives — $187 million in nondisclosed compensation and $140 million in improper expenditures, according to a five-page summary of Nissan’s internal investigation released in September.

Ghosn, who was also running French automaker Renault as well as the fragile Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance, was removed from both of those positions while awaiting trial in Japan.

The Financial Times said Ghosn was no longer under house arrest, but said it was not clear whether he had escaped or a deal with prosecutors had been reached. Ghosn landed at Beirut’s Rafic al-Hariri international airport late on Sunday, the paper said, citing an associate of Ghosn’s.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Ghosn had fled Japan.

Ghosn’s lawyers have asked a court to dismiss all charges against him. They accuse prosecutors of colluding with government officials and Nissan executives of ousting him to block any takeover of the automaker by French alliance partner Renault.

“Contrary to the accusations made by the prosecutors, I never received any compensation from Nissan that was not disclosed, nor did I ever enter into any binding contract with Nissan to be paid a fixed amount that was not disclosed,” Ghosn told a Japanese court in January.

After his arrest, Ghosn spent a long period in detention, but more recently was allowed out, subject to stringent bail conditions that required him to stay in Japan.

In September, Ghosn reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegedly false financial disclosures, paying a $1 million civil penalty and agreeing to a 10-year ban from serving as an officer or director of a public company. The SEC had charged Ghosn and others with concealing more than $140 million in compensation and retirement benefits.

Nissan also paid a $15 million civil penalty after the SEC charged the carmarker with violating anti-fraud rules. Both settlements were made without an admission or denial of the charges.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft Challenges £2.1 Billion UK Cloud Licensing Lawsuit at Competition Tribunal
Fake Doctor in Uttar Pradesh Accused of Killing Woman After Performing YouTube-Based Surgery
Hackers Are Hiding Malware in Open-Source Tools and IDE Extensions
Traveling to USA? Homeland Security moving toward requiring foreign travelers to share social media history
UK Officials Push Back at Trump Saying European Leaders ‘Talk Too Much’ About Ukraine
UK Warns of Escalating Cyber Assault Linked to Putin’s State-Backed Operations
UK Consumer Spending Falters in November as Households Hold Back Ahead of Budget
UK Orders Fresh Review of Prince Harry’s Security Status After Formal Request
U.S. Authorises Nvidia to Sell H200 AI Chips to China Under Security Controls
Trump in Direct Assault: European Leaders Are Weak, Immigration a Disaster. Russia Is Strong and Big — and Will Win
"App recommendation" or disguised advertisement? ChatGPT Premium users are furious
"The Great Filtering": Australia Blocks Hundreds of Thousands of Minors From Social Networks
Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Back From Metaverse After $70 Billion Loss as Meta Shifts Priorities to AI
Nvidia CEO Says U.S. Data-Center Builds Take Years while China ‘Builds a Hospital in a Weekend’
Indian Airports in Turmoil as IndiGo Cancels Over a Thousand Flights, Stranding Thousands
Hollywood Industry on Edge as Netflix Secures Near-$60 Bln Loan for Warner Bros Takeover
Drugs and Assassinations: The Connection Between the Italian Mafia and Football Ultras
Hollywood megadeal: Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery for 83 billion dollars
The Disregard for a Europe ‘in Danger of Erasure,’ the Shift Toward Russia: Trump’s Strategic Policy Document
Two and a Half Weeks After the Major Outage: A Cloudflare Malfunction Brings Down Multiple Sites
UK data-regulator demands urgent clarity on racial bias in police facial-recognition systems
Labour Uses Biscuits to Explain UK Debt — MPs Lean Into Social Media to Reach New Audiences
German President Lays Wreath at Coventry as UK-Germany Reaffirm Unity Against Russia’s Threat
UK Inquiry Finds Putin ‘Morally Responsible’ for 2018 Novichok Death — London Imposes Broad Sanctions on GRU
India backs down on plan to mandate government “Sanchar Saathi” app on all smartphones
King Charles Welcomes German President Steinmeier to UK in First State Visit by Berlin in 27 Years
UK Plans Major Cutback to Jury Trials as Crown Court Backlog Nears 80,000
UK Government to Significantly Limit Jury Trials in England and Wales
U.S. and U.K. Seal Drug-Pricing Deal: Britain Agrees to Pay More, U.S. Lifts Tariffs
UK Postpones Decision Yet Again on China’s Proposed Mega-Embassy in London
Head of UK Budget Watchdog Resigns After Premature Leak of Reeves’ Budget Report
Car-sharing giant Zipcar to exit UK market by end of 2025
Reports of Widespread Drone Deployment Raise Privacy and Security Questions in the UK
UK Signals Security Concerns Over China While Pursuing Stronger Trade Links
Google warns of AI “irrationality” just as Gemini 3 launch rattles markets
Top Consultancies Freeze Starting Salaries as AI Threatens ‘Pyramid’ Model
Macron Says Washington Pressuring EU to Delay Enforcement of Digital-Regulation Probes Against Meta, TikTok and X
UK’s DragonFire Laser Downs High-Speed Drones as £316m Deal Speeds Naval Deployment
UK Chancellor Rejects Claims She Misled Public on Fiscal Outlook Ahead of Budget
Starmer Defends Autumn Budget as Finance Chief Faces Accusations of Misleading Public Finances
EU Firms Struggle with 3,000-Hour Paperwork Load — While Automakers Fear De Facto 2030 Petrol Car Ban
White House launches ‘Hall of Shame’ site to publicly condemn media outlets for alleged bias
UK Budget’s New EV Mileage Tax Undercuts Case for Plug-In Hybrids
UK Government Launches National Inquiry into ‘Grooming Gangs’ After US Warning and Rising Public Outcry
Taylor Swift Extends U.K. Chart Reign as ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ Hits Six Weeks at No. 1
250 Still Missing in the Massive Fire, 94 Killed. One Day After the Disaster: Survivor Rescued on the 16th Floor
Trump: National Guard Soldier Who Was Shot in Washington Has Died; Second Soldier Fighting for His Life
UK Chancellor Reeves Defends Tax Rises as Essential to Reduce Child Poverty and Stabilise Public Finances
No Evidence Found for Claim That UK Schools Are Shifting to Teaching American English
European Powers Urge Israel to Halt West Bank Settler Violence Amid Surge in Attacks
×