[volkman10]

Ghosn wired $860,000 to alleged escape plotters.

Former Nissan Motor Co. chief Carlos Ghosn transferred more than $860,000 (¥92.5 million) in October to a company managed by one of two Massachusetts men accused of helping him escape criminal charges in Japan two months later, U.S. prosecutors said.

Ghosn wired the money in two installments to Promote Fox LLC, a company managed by Peter Taylor and one of his brothers

Taylor and his father, ex-Green Beret Michael, were arrested by U.S. authorities in May at the request of the Japanese government, which is seeking their extradition for allegedly helping Ghosn flee to Lebanon in December. At the time, Ghosn was out on bail awaiting trial on several financial misconduct charges.

Link

[anjan_c2007]

The two Taylors, father and son are petitioning for bail to get released from prison in Massachusetts, where they have been held since six weeks. Their lawyer has cited that 36 inmates and staffers in this jail are Corona positive and that the Taylor + Taylor duo are not flight risks, but risk Covid -19 infections.

Transfer of funds totalling US $ 540,000 and 322,500 were done from a bank account in Paris to Promote Fox LLC, a company managed by Peter Taylor and a brother. The filing in the court though does not say how much Taylor + Taylor were paid from this "FOXY" account.

The disclosure came less than a day after the men, Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, who are trying to avoid extradition to Japan in connection with Ghosn's escape, petitioned a U.S. judge to release them on bail. Lawyers for the Taylors said they have been held for more than six weeks at the Norfolk County Correctional Center in Massachusetts, where 36 inmates and staff have tested positive for COVID-19, based on flawed arrest warrants and extradition requests.
"Neither is a risk of flight and there are undoubtedly conditions under which they can be released," the lawyers wrote.

The filing does not say how much the Taylors were paid, but prosecutors said it reflects "additional evidence" that they have the resources to flee, and should remain detained as "flight risks." Michael Taylor is a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and private security specialist. In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell rejected the Taylors' bid to quash their arrest warrants, with a written order to follow. He has not ruled on their bail requests.

Carlos Ghosn may be closely following the latest developments from his abode in Lebanon.

The full report:-

https://auto.economictimes.indiatime...japan/76845033

[GTO]

Here's the best article you'll ever read on his escape. Vanity Fair doesn't do business articles as often as they should, but when they do, it is seriously gold class.

The Escape Artist

THERE ARE ONLY two ways out of Japan: by air or by sea. Escaping by sea requires sailing down the coast of Japan and crossing 2,600 miles of open water to Thailand, where Ghosn would still need to get on a plane to return to Lebanon. The journey would take two to three weeks, which struck Taylor as a risky undertaking for a man of Ghosn's age and constitution. That left the sky. Ghosn, who was a household name in Japan, couldn't fly commercial, so Taylor would need a private jet.

Taylor knew from experience that the biggest enemies on any rescue mission are the captives themselves, and their families. "Once they know you are going to help them," he says, "they start telling you how to do things." First Ghosn insisted on going by boat. Then he wanted to fly out of Tokyo. Then he demanded he leave immediately. There was "constant tension," according to Taylor, and it took enormous discipline to remain committed to his original vision.

[anjan_c2007]

The chief plotter (CP) who saw the nemesis of the mighty CEO was an insider who tore apart his legacy. So it was CP versus CEO and the CP won ! Hari Nada alias Hemant Kumar Nadanasabapathy, aged 56, Senior Vice President, Nissan was born in Malaysia to Tamil parents and studied law in the U.K. and also studied in Japan. He joined Nissan in 1990. He was an insider known for his aggressiveness and fondness for Marlboros, French cuff shirts and strong cologne. He became Chief of Staff to the CEO in 2014. Nada schemingly and craftily planned to expose Carlos Ghosn first by hacking into Nissan's computer systems and then accessing Ghosn's official emails, to later on expose the mighty CEO's criminal-financial misconduct. High-profile careers were annhilated and the management went into a turmoil.

The story is an as good thriller as was his escape in musical boxes from Japan to Lebanon in December last.

Please see the newslink below to view the full newsitem and see pictures and brief profiles of members of the syndicate who unseated Carlos Ghosn (includes two Indian names). And apart from image/s of the ex- CEO, we will also see the music boxes in which Carlos Ghosn ultimately escaped.

An excerpt:-

Ghosn’s nemesis was born into a Tamil family in Malaysia as Hemant Kumar Nadanasabapathy, although he prefers to go by the shortened version of his surname. Nada grew up in the U.K., where he earned a law degree at Inns of Court School of Law. He also studied at Japan’s Chuo University on a scholarship.

After joining Nissan in 1990, Nada toiled in relative anonymity, working on commercial contracts in the U.K. and other matters. After losing out on the top legal position in Europe, Nada spent four years at Nissan’s headquarters before edging out the rival to clinch that job in 2012.

Although known for his eloquence and penchant for telling stories, Nada wasn’t a public figure like the executives around him who gave interviews and held news conferences. Apart from a few official pictures on Nissan’s website, public photos of the senior vice president are virtually nonexistent.

Nada returned to Japan in January 2014 to join the CEO’s office after his assertive management style caught the eye of Kelly, who ran human resources, legal and other corporate units. Nada inherited part of Kelly’s portfolio—as well as his office—and oversaw legal issues, compliance, security and other corporate affairs.

The position meant Nada essentially served as chief of staff to Ghosn and then Saikawa when he took over as CEO in 2017. From the 21st executive floor of Nissan’s Yokohama headquarters, Nada had a clear view of the inner workings of top management. It also meant he was privy to what was supposed to have been Ghosn’s grand finale as corporate chieftain.

As chairman of three automakers, Ghosn traveled relentlessly, shuttling between Paris, Tokyo and other countries on corporate jets. Having turned 64 in March 2018, Ghosn mulled a major legacy play. He wanted to bring the allied automakers under a single holding company and give back to Nissan some degree of parity with Renault, the lack of which long had been a sore point in Japan.

The French automaker saved Nissan almost two decades earlier by sending in Ghosn and providing a cash infusion that eventually made it the company’s biggest shareholder with a 43% stake. Yet by 2018, Nissan was making more cars and sending billions of euros in dividends to Renault each year. Despite that, the Japanese carmaker remained the junior partner, with a 15% stake in the French company and no voting rights.

The full news link from Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2...n-nada-nissan/

[anjan_c2007]

With a hyperactive Carlos Ghosn, as the main character of this thread, we can vie that there will surely be activity and new inputs here from time to time.

And as of now its about Greg Kelly, an American citizen, who was booked and was behind the bars for abetting Carlos Ghosn's crime with a criminal conspiracy to hide the excess tens of millions of dollars drawn as compensation from Nissan. Greg Kelly, Carlos Ghosn's trusted man at Nissan jailed in 2018, is now out on bail. He faced trial again in the Tokyo District court on 08.09.2020, on his 64th birthday and the Japanese prosecutors are to prove that they have unimpeachable charges filed against Greg. In Japan, the conviction rate in criminal cases is 99 %.

Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Kelly say the money was never paid nor even guaranteed.

Mr. Ghosn was thousands of miles away when the trial began, but his presence loomed large. The executive famously turned around Nissan, a storied Japanese auto brand bleeding red ink, and built an alliance with Renault of France and Mitsubishi of Japan that became the world’s largest car empire. His arrest shook corporate Japan and the global automotive industry alike.

Already a household name in Japan when he was arrested, Mr. Ghosn added to his notoriety by hiring private security contractors to lead a daring escape in late December from his home in Tokyo to Lebanon, where he is a citizen and safe from extradition.

While Mr. Kelly’s story lacks some of the drama of his former boss’s international escapade, his attorney, James Wareham, says it, too, illuminates the inherent difficulty of beating Japan’s justice system at its own game.

Even as his trial began, prosecutors had yet to hand over more than 70 other boxes, the lawyer added. The sheer quantity of documents, in the millions of pages, has already overwhelmed the team of attorneys hired to examine them on Mr. Kelly’s behalf.

The full story link:-

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/b...osn-kelly.html

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The chief plotter (CP) who saw the nemesis of the mighty CEO was an insider who tore apart his legacy. So it was CP versus CEO and the CP won ! Hari Nada alias Hemant Kumar Nadanasabapathy, aged 56, Senior Vice President, Nissan was born in Malaysia to Tamil parents and studied law in the U.K. and also studied in Japan. He joined Nissan in 1990. He was an insider known for his aggressiveness and fondness for Marlboros, French cuff shirts and strong cologne. He became Chief of Staff to the CEO in 2014. Nada schemingly and craftily planned to expose Carlos Ghosn first by hacking into Nissan's computer systems and then accessing Ghosn's official emails, to later on expose the mighty CEO's criminal-financial misconduct. High-profile careers were annhilated and the management went into a turmoil.

Sounds like a mean vengeful character. His hacking activities do not make him an angel.

[AMG Power]

+1.

Apart from that he is also primarily responsible for the fall of a global conglomerate consisting of 3 automobile majors and their eventual relegation into history, the loss of jobs of millions of workers, it's effect on their families, destruction of several ancillary industries and a few economies.

So while we gleefully lap up the details of the chase and think Ghosn did wrong and is a fugitive and must be caught - it would make sense to think about these areas too:

Which is a lesser evil:

That of one man not paying taxes, dipping into the till, getting a supplier to pay for a wedding function, building a few houses - some of which activity may be illegal.

OR

The destruction of a global conglomerate along with millions of jobs, several suicides by bread winners, destruction of millions of families, destruction of several ancillary industries, destruction of wealth of millions of shareholders and impact on a few economies - all of which activity are 100% legal.

To help answer the question, a small case study that has relevance here:

Sometime ago there was a petrol statioin in a metro city that earned a reputation of being the best in that city - the best service / courteous staff / excellent rapport with customers / good quality fuel etc.

As a result of this, the pump had the maximum sales in that city.

It soon came to pass that the staff were dipping into the till and helping themselves. I thought the owner would sack the whole bloody lot. He did nothing of the sort. He obviously closed the avenues of the staff to make money.

I always wondered why he didn't sack the whole lot and thought that this was a very wrong decision.

The pump continued as before - roaring sales, excellent service and the reputation of being the best in the city. It took some time for the coin to drop of the business acumen that the owner had. Had be sent out his staff, he would not have had the same service quality, rapport with customers would have been lost, the pump would have earned a bad reputation, goodwill would have gone down the drain and most importantly his business would have been a disaster.

There is a difference between the two scenarios - in the case of the pump the owner decides if something is legal and the action to be taken.

In the corporate world, the government and law decide what is legal. But it's clear as to what is practical and makes business sense for everyone else other than a government.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

in the case of the pump the owner decides if something is legal and the action to be taken.

In the corporate world, the government and law decide what is legal.

Sorry, but in BOTH cases the law/courts should decide what is legal.

Obviously there is a world of difference between what the law says and what happens on the ground, especially in the case of people with power- political and money. But if we start excusing every crime with 'it is the lesser of the two evils' where do we stand?

That is the whole point of having laws, right? (However inconsistent the actual enforcement/implementation may be in reality.)

[neofromcapone]

Ghosn also had his eye on expansion, with early negotiations being held to add Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to the holding company.

This grand alliance would sell everything from electric cars and Jeeps to Maseratis and hatchbacks. It would churn out more than 15 million vehicles a year, easily surpassing the 10 million-plus units produced by Toyota Motor Corp. or Volkswagen AG. The new car-making behemoth was supposed to have enough strength to survive the challenges facing the industry, take on upstarts such as Tesla Inc. and play a leading role in the future of transportation.

To pull it off, Ghosn needed top-notch CEOs to run each business. Although he would delegate more authority to each one, he would be the wizard behind the curtain, with each leader reporting back as Ghosn set broader strategy and made sure targets were being met.

Here is the Article

Seems like the movie Inception.
the more I read the story, all the players come to the fore, except the puppet master - who would gain the most if the company fell.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by am1m

Sorry, but in BOTH cases the law/courts should decide what is legal.

Sorry, but it is 100% upto the owner to decide if something is illegal as it is HIS money. He is the only one to "press charges" which is the ONLY point at which the legal machinery is can take over. There is no room for legal machinery to step in if the owner has no issues with what happened.

In the case of a company that option is not available as it is public (shareholder) money.

Originally Posted by am1m

But if we start excusing every crime with 'it is the lesser of the two evils' where do we stand?

Did I say Ghosn should be excused anywhere?

Originally Posted by am1m

That is the whole point of having laws, right? (However inconsistent the actual enforcement/implementation may be in reality.)

You wouldn't be saying that if you lost your job with Nissan and were on the streets in penury.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

He is the only one to "press charges" which is the ONLY point at which the legal machinery is can take over.

Fair enough, that is a good point.

Originally Posted by AMG Power

You wouldn't be saying that if you lost your job with Nissan and were on the streets in penury.

That's a bit extreme, I certainly didn't mean to imply the company needed to be shut down. Just that the executive who was charged needed to be tried and punished if found guilty.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by am1m

That's a bit extreme, I certainly didn't mean to imply the company needed to be shut down. Just that the executive who was charged needed to be tried and punished if found guilty.

Well, as a response to:

Originally Posted by AMG Power

The destruction of..millions of jobs, several suicides by bread winners, destruction of millions of families, destruction of several ancillary industries, destruction of wealth of millions of shareholders

which was the main part of the post, you said:

Originally Posted by am1m

That is the whole point of having laws, right?

[am1m]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

which was the main part of the post, you said:

Nope, and I quoted an entirely different part of your post. My point was only about the prosecution of the chief exec, if that's not already clear.

Anyway, all I'm trying to understand is why the arrest of a top executive, even someone as key as Ghosn would lead to the breakup of the company to this extent. Other corporations have had key people leave and be prosecuted, why such an adverse impact in this case.

And yes, laws should apply to all equally.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

Sorry, but it is 100% upto the owner to decide if something is illegal as it is HIS money. .

Actually, when I worked in India our legal department told me that it is the responsibility of any business owners to report any suspicious and or fraudulent behaviour to the police. In fact, as a business owner you are quite limited on to what extend you can do your own investigation apparently.

Maybe it is different for small vv Multinationals. Also, what happens in practice and to what extend the cops would actually be helpful is a different matter.

Going of topic, but in case of fraudulent behaviour there is only one way to respond. Immediate dismissal. Yes, that can be a real head ache if that/those person(s) are doing a great jobs otherwise. But honesty and integrity from people in the same organisation is hugely important and it is one the things I don’t think you should compromise on no matter what. Such behaviour needs to be stamped out. I firmly believe that in the long run, it is the only way.

Jeroen

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

In fact, as a business owner you are quite limited on to what extend you can do your own investigation apparently.

He did not carry out any investigation, nor did he attempt to recover what was lost. He just ensured that there was no further recurrence.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

.that can be a real head ache if that/those person(s) are doing a great jobs otherwise.

The decision by the owner was to retain the employees who were doing a great job and continue the business which had generated a lot of goodwill and reputation all of which would have disappeared had he taken the usual steps.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I don’t think you should compromise on no matter what. Such behaviour needs to be stamped out. I firmly believe that in the long run, it is the only way.

That was what we are taught in management and my belief too and I also thought it wrong on the part of the owner not to have removed the staff.

In hindsight I can see that if the owner had done so, he ran the risk of ruining his business by following standard management practices and sacking them.

He seemed to have assesed that situation correctly for the business improved and gathered even more reputation and goodwill all of which may have been lost if he followed what are standard management practices.

I had quoted this incident as the situation was handled in a completely opposite manner to what we are taught in management and the end result was that the business remained hugely successful.