Just last week, Ghosn said, he opened a new legal front in Lebanon by filing a complaint against certain Nissan executives, the company’s external law firm and the Tokyo Prosecutors Office.
Ghosn said the complaint asserts that people working for these parties fraudulently entered Lebanon on tourist visas, illegally searched his residence without a warrant and unlawfully seized documents, electronic devices and electronic data.
The Beirut raid was part of a swoop on Ghosn’s residences in Tokyo, Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro at the time of his arrest.
“There was no warrant; there was nothing,” Ghosn said. “They just took whatever they wanted, in the most mafia-style way, and then sent everything back to the Tokyo prosecutor. … We are contesting not only the way they got these documents but the authenticity of the documents.”
Separately, Nissan’s ¥91 billion ($801.5 million) civil case against Ghosn in Japan is proceeding at a snail’s pace. Lawyers from both sides had a brief procedural hearing Oct. 15; the next is in late January.
Among Nissan’s claims, the automaker is seeking $22 million in damages from Ghosn, which it cites as the cost of the legal and investigative fees of looking into and pursuing his alleged misconduct, according to Ghosn’s defense attorney, Nobuo Gohara.
Gohara said the outcome of the criminal case against Kelly could have a big influence on Ghosn’s own civil case.
Kelly’s verdict is expected in March, and if he is acquitted, that will strengthen Ghosn’s hand in the Nissan case and clear a path for possible countersuits.
But the three-year window to file a countersuit would close sometime next spring, meaning that waiting for a Kelly verdict runs the risk of having the statute of limitations expire, Gohara said.
“We are considering, but have yet to file, a countersuit,” Gohara said. “So, if we decide to file a countersuit, we will have to do so by next spring. We have only about six months left.”
Prosecutors are seeking a two-year prison sentence for Kelly, 65, if he’s found guilty.
