The Tokyo Regional Tax Bureau used the conservative Yomiuri daily newspaper to announce that it had unearthed a tax irregularity with Nissan dating from…2014!.
The company is accused of having incorrectly classified ¥150 million (approximately €1.2 million) which should have been accounted for as income. Part of these amounts concerning donations or payments.
Carlos Ghosn’s defense team issued a declaration stating that its client:
“Mr. Ghosn categorically denies that there was anything improper about the payments or donations at issue, all of which were made for the benefit of Nissan. There is nothing new in these allegations, which arise from inquiries by the tax authorities and taxes paid by Nissan years ago. The prosecutors’ decision to leak them now, only days after Mr. Ghosn publicly released court filings detailing extensive prosecutorial misconduct and previewing his defenses for the first time, is a transparent effort to distract from the failings of their case.”
Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers
Since the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, Nissan has systematically conducted blatant disinformation campaigns in the media designed to influence public opinion. By now accustomed to these tricks, Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers decided to strike back.
A press conference (translated into English) was organized 10 days later at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan to reiterate the grounds for requesting that all charges should be dropped and to explain to the media once again how Nissan colluded with the prosecutors in order to oust Carlos Ghosn.