Dutch court orders former Nissan boss Ghosn to repay salary

A Dutch court has ordered fugitive former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn to repay nearly 5 million euros in salary to an Amsterdam-based alliance between Nissan and Mitsubishi, and rejected his claim for millions in compensation for wrongful dismissal

Netherlands Ghosn (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A Dutch court on Thursday ordered fugitive former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn to repay nearly 5 million euros in salary to an Amsterdam-based alliance between Nissan and Mitsubishi and rejected his claim for millions in compensation for wrongful dismissal.

The ruling came in a case in which Ghosn sought to have his 2018 sacking from Nissan-Mitsubishi B.V. overturned and demanded 15 million euros ($16.5 million) in compensation.

The court in Amsterdam rejected his claims, saying he did not have a valid contract with the company at the time. The salary he was ordered to repay covers payments made to him by the Dutch joint venture from April until November 2018.

The Dutch case stems from Nissan’s decision to fire Ghosn after he was accused of financial misconduct in Japan. The former high-flying automotive executive skipped bail in Tokyo in 2019 and fled to Lebanon, where he grew up.

Ghosn, who was first arrested in November 2018, has said he is innocent of allegations in Japan that he under-reported his future income and committed a breach of trust by diverting Nissan money for his personal gain. He says the compensation was never decided on or received, and the Nissan payments were for legitimate business purposes.

Ghosn, who has French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship, was sent by Renault in 1999 to salvage Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, from the brink of bankruptcy.