BEIRUT, January 9. /TASS/. Lebanese authorities banned former CEO of the French-Japanese automobile alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Carlos Ghosn from leaving the country after an interrogation on Thursday, a court source in Beirut told the Daily Star newspaper.
Ghosn, who fled Japan where he had been under the house arrest facing a court trial in Tokyo, was interrogated by Lebanese investigators in presence of Attorney General Ghassan Uweidat, the source said.
The ex-top manager alleged at a press conference in Beirut on Wednesday that Japan’s officials and the management of Nissan colluded against him and said that he is was a victim of political prosecution.
Carlos Ghosn and former Nissan executive director Greg Kelly were arrested on November 19, 2018, on suspicion of violating Japan's financial laws. Investigators said that Ghosn failed to declare his reward of nine billion yen (over $80 million), when he was the chair of Nissan Board of Directors between 2010 and 2018. Other charges were brought against him as well.
In March 2019, Ghosn was released from the Tokyo District Prison on bail of one billion yen (around $9 mln), but was taken into custody again on April 4 after additional charges were filed. In late April 2019, a court in Tokyo ruled to release him on bail of 500 million yen (approximately $4.5 million).