Ousted Nissan exec Carlos Ghosn makes his first public remarks on financial misconduct allegations inside Tokyo courtroom

Etienne Laurent, Pool via AP

Carlos Ghosn

• Carlos Ghosn, the ousted Nissan chairman who is facing multiple allegations of financial misconduct spoke publicly for the first time since he was arrested in Japan on November 19.
• "I have acted honorably, legally, and with the knowledge and approval of the appropriate executives inside the company," Ghosn said Tuesday inside a Tokyo courthouse according to The Wall Street Journal.
• The longtime Nissan executive is accused of underreporting his income and transferring more than $16 million in personal investment losses to the automaker.
• Ghosn's arrest reverberated throughout the automotive world. He is admired for helping save Nissan from bankruptcy in the late 1990s.

Carlos Ghosn appeared in a Tokyo courtroom and spoke publicly for first time on Tuesday since he was arrested on multiple financial misconduct charges on November 19.

The longtime Nissan executive is accused of underreporting his income and tranferring more than $16 million in personal investment losses to the automaker.

Arriving to court in a dark suit, white shirt, and handcuffs, Ghosn said, "I have acted honorably, legally, and with the knowledge and approval of the appropriate executives inside the company," according to The Wall Street Journal.

He made several more declarations, insisting he was "wrongly accused and unfairly detained." Speaking to the charge of underreporting his compensation at Nissan, Ghosn claimed that all of his income from his work for the Japanese automaker had been properly disclosed.

Ghosn's arrest reverberated throughout the automotive world.

Hours ahead of his appearance, photographers in Tokyo captured long lines of people vying to get inside the courtroom. A police bus believed to be carrying Ghosn was seen parked outside.

REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

People who wish to sit in for ousted Nissan Motor Co Ltd chairman Carlos Ghosn's hearing gather around a board to see if their numbers were selected for attendance at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo, Japan, January 8, 2019.

He is admired for helping save Nissan from bankruptcy in the late 1990s, which included a strategic partnership with the French automaker Renault in 1999. Mitsubishi joined the group in 2016, and two years later, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance under Ghosn's leadership became the world's largest automaker by sales.

Both Nissan and Mitsubishi booted Ghosn following the financial misconduct allegations, but Renault has not. It named an acting CEO and chairman shortly after his arrest, but has not officially severed ties.

Other Nissan executives affected

Ghosn's mounting legal troubles have touched other executives in the Nissan ecosystem.

Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly was arrested alongside Ghosn in November. Arun Bajaj, Nissan's head of human resources, has taken leave from the company, but is said to be cooperating with Japanese authorities, the Financial Times reported.

And Nissan's chief performance officer, Jose Munoz, is also on leave to focus on "special tasks arising from recent events," a matter that Bloomberg reports is directly related to Ghosn.