Amid moves in France to take legal action against Renault’s former chief executive Carlos Ghosn, already facing four charges for alleged financial misconduct in Japan, here are key developments since his arrest in November in Tokyo:
Arrested on jet
Prosecutors arrest Ghosn and his right-hand man Greg Kelly on a private jet after it touches down in Tokyo on November 19. They are accused of financial misconduct, including under-reporting Ghosn’s salary.
The auto titan oversaw the alliance of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, creating the world’s top-selling auto company.
Ghosn and Kelly deny wrongdoing. Their detention for investigation is extended to December 10.
Fired
French car giant Renault announces on November 20 that Ghosn is “temporarily incapacitated” and chief operating officer Thierry Bollore will take over.
Nissan’s board votes unanimously on November 22 to “discharge” Ghosn as chairman. Four days later, he is also fired as boss of Mitsubishi.
Charged, new allegations
On December 10, Japanese prosecutors formally charge Ghosn and Kelly with under-reporting his salary between 2010 and 2015. They are immediately rearrested on allegations of further under-reporting in the past three years.
On December 21, they arrest Ghosn again over fresh allegations that he transferred losses from personal financial investments to Nissan. His detention is prolonged until January 11.
Kelly wins bail on December 25 on condition he stays in Japan.
First court appearance
In his first public appearance since his arrest, Ghosn attends a court hearing on January 8 in handcuffs. “I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” he says.
The judge says his detention is justified because he poses a flight risk and could tamper with evidence.
On January 11, prosecutors file two new formal charges of financial misconduct against Ghosn. On January 15, the court denies his bail request.
First bail approved
On January 21, Ghosn issues a personal appeal for bail, vowing he would not seek to leave Japan before a trial and offering to wear an electronic tagging bracelet. It is rejected.
On January 31, Ghosn tells AFP from prison that his detention would “not be normal in any other democracy”. He shakes up his legal team on February 13.
On March 5, the court approves Ghosn’s third request for bail which is set at one billion yen ($9 million, eight million euros).
He walks out of his detention centre on March 6.
Rearrest
He is rearrested in a dawn raid of his Tokyo apartment on April 4, with investigators now probing suspect payments to a Nissan distributor in Oman.
“I will not be broken,” Ghosn says.
On April 9, Ghosn’s representatives release a video recorded shortly before his arrest in which he accuses “backstabbing” Nissan executives of a “conspiracy”.
He repeats that he is “innocent”.
On April 22 authorities hit him with a further charge of aggravated breach of trust, alleging he siphoned off money for personal ends from cash transferred from Nissan to a dealership in Oman.
Bail II
On April 25, the court grants Ghosn a second bail of $4.5 million. It bans him from leaving Japan and imposes other conditions, including that he needs court permission to see his wife.
On May 26, his lawyers say his family had asked the UN group on arbitrary detention to intervene against his “judicial persecution”.
On June 4, Renault in France reveals that an internal audit identified 11 million euros of questionable expenses at the Dutch subsidiary, RNBV, which is jointly owned with Nissan.
This included “certain spending by Mr Ghosn” and over-charging for his plane travel.
France, which holds a 15 percent stake in Renault, says it will cooperate with a case being planned by the carmaker against Ghosn.
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