Carlos Ghosn: Nissan ousts former boss from its board

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Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn leaves his lawyers' offices after he was released earlier in the day from a detention centre after posting bail in Tokyo on March 6, 2019Image source, Getty Images

Nissan shareholders have voted to oust the company's former boss Carlos Ghosn from its board.

The decision to sever ties with Mr Ghosn was made at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting held on Monday.

Mr Ghosn was re-arrested in Tokyo last week while out on bail pending trial over claims of financial misconduct.

Shareholders also voted to remove Mr Ghosn's former right-hand man Greg Kelly, and to appoint Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard as a director.

Mr Ghosn's fall from grace and lengthy detention has attracted global attention.

The Japanese carmaker sacked Mr Ghosn as chairman shortly after he was first detained in November.

'Outrageous'

Mr Ghosn was the architect of the alliance between Nissan and French carmaker Renault, and brought Mitsubishi on board in 2016. He is credited with turning around the fortunes of Nissan and Renault over several years.

He was first detained in November and faces charges of financial misconduct and breach of trust.

Prosecutors said Mr Ghosn's latest arrest related to transfers of Nissan funds totalling $15m (£11.5m) between 2015 and 2018.

They allege that $5m of that amount was used by Mr Ghosn for personal expenditure.

Local media had previously said that authorities had been building a new case against him involving payments to a dealership in Oman.

Mr Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing throughout, and has described the latest arrest as "outrageous and arbitrary."

His lawyer said it was almost unheard of to re-arrest someone after being released on bail.

Mr Ghosn was first charged with under-reporting his pay package for the five years to 2015.

In January, a fresh charge claimed he understated his compensation for another three years and he was also indicted on a new, more serious charge of breach of trust.