Nissan sued by overseas investors over Ghosn arrest

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issan Motor is facing a lawsuit from a group of around 90 institutional investors based outside Japan who claim they suffered huge financial losses after the carmaker brought financial misconduct charges against its former chair, Carlos Ghosn.

The investors, based mainly in the UK, Germany and the US, are demanding a combined JPY44bn ($400m) in compensation for losses they incurred after the share price plunged in the wake of the charges brought against Ghosn and company executive Greg Kelly in November 2018.

Ghosn subsequently jumped bail and fled Japan to escape what he described as the "country's rigged justice system" and is trying to clear his name in law courts in Europe. Kelly remains in custody in Japan and is currently on trial for his part in the alleged underreporting of Ghosn's earnings by billions of yen over a number of years.

The investors, who are said to have traded Nissan shares through financial institutions since before June 2011, claim Nissan could easily have forecast a drop in its share price as a result of damage to the trust in its accounting and corporate governance once the legal proceedings were reported in the media.

Ghosn has been ordered to repay €5m ($6.1m) to Nissan and Mitsubishi by a Dutch court after he failed in the first step in a legal claim.

The Guardian said Ghosn had asked an Amsterdam court to overturn his sacking after his initial arrest by a Dutch company that formed part of the alliance. The court ruled that Ghosn did not have a valid contract with the company and said he must repay nearly €5m in salary he received during 2018.