Junichiro Hironaka, lawyer of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, right, attends a press conference in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Hironaka said his client cannot get a fair trial under the same judge as the Japanese automaker, which is a co-defendant in a pending financial misconduct case, arguing Nissan has been acting “as one” with the prosecutors.((AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Republished April 03, 2019 - 3:21 AM
Original Publication Date April 03, 2019 - 1:21 AM
PARIS - The board of carmaker Renault was meeting Wednesday to settle ex-chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn's final paycheque — and wrap up its investigation into possible financial wrongdoing under his leadership.
The meeting at Renault's headquarters in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt comes after new reports of suspicious payments to a Renault-Nissan distributor in Oman under Ghosn's watch.
Ghosn has denied wrongdoing and on Wednesday took to Twitter, posting on his new verified account , to say he will hold a news conference on April 11: "I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening."
Ghosn was arrested in November in Japan, where he also served as chairman of Nissan. He has been charged with breach of trust and with falsifying financial reports in understating his income.
The Renault meeting will finalize pay packages for Ghosn and other executives for 2018. Ghosn's fixed salary at Renault was 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million) but he also received variable pay based on company and personal performance.
Ghosn has kept silent, publicly, since his release on bail last month in Tokyo after nearly four months of detention.
His lawyer Junichiro Hironaka told reporters on Tuesday he has petitioned a Tokyo court to allow him to be tried separately from Nissan Motor Co., a co-defendant in the case.
Ghosn won global accolades for turning around Renault and then its alliance partner Nissan over the past two decades.
He bet early on that emissions crackdowns would eventually bring an end to the era of gasoline and diesel engines, so he has championed bringing electric and autonomous cars to the masses, fighting resistance within both companies.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019