Nissan cries foul as Ghosn documents removed from Rio flat
- Representatives of the Ghosn family took belongings including items inside safes
- Nissan says the documents ‘cannot possibly have been of a personal nature’
Representatives of ousted Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn’s family have retrieved documents from a corporate flat in Rio de Janeiro, the carmaker said Friday, suspecting the papers may include evidence of wrongdoing.
Along with local court officials, the representatives visited the flat on Thursday night to remove personal belongings including items inside safes, with Nissan representatives also present, the company said.
The documents, contained in two plastic folders, were removed from a wardrobe, it said. The Nissan representatives were not allowed by the court to view the contents of the safes or the documents.
“We believe that these documents cannot possibly have been of a personal nature,” Nissan said in a statement. The Japanese firm “is considering its next course of action”.
Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers suggest Nissan planted evidence in flat to ‘compromise his good reputation’
Earlier this week, a local court granted Ghosn’s family access to the flat to remove personal belongings. The spokesperson for Ghosn has reportedly said there was nothing of significance in the documents.
Spokesman Devon Spurgeon was cited as saying the documents “were old agendas from a previous business trip to Brazil” and that “at every point the family followed judicial protocol”.
Nissan said its representatives noticed that one of the documents had the Nissan logo on the front page.
Ghosn was indicted this week along with his close aide Greg Kelly on a charge of violating the financial instruments law by understating his remuneration in the company’s reports to authorities during the five years through March 2015. They have denied the allegation.
