Dismissal At Nissan And Workplace Crime Prevention

Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, recognised worldwide as one of the car industry's leading figures, was sacked following his arrest in Japan. His arrest and subsequent dismissal came after an internal investigation discovered what the car manufacturer has called "significant acts of misconduct" over many years by him and another top executive.

Nissan said in a statement that it had been investigating Ghosn, aged 64, and another board member for a number of months. The company has said the accusations include him using company assets for his personal use.

Japanese prosecutors confirmed that Ghosn and the other board member were arrested on suspicion of violating financial laws by filing false statements. According to the prosecutors, the two men are alleged to have collaborated to under-report Ghosn's income by about $44 million over a five-year period ending in March 2015. The filing of a false financial statement in Japan can carry a sentence of up to ten years in prison.

While Ghosn considered his possible fate, his former employers had to manage a fall in share value prompted by the announcement of their former chairman's arrest. Nissan also had to hold what may well have been difficult discussions with Renault, which is recognised as the dominant partner in the alliance between the two car companies. It has also apologised to shareholders for causing them "great concern'' and has insisted it will "continue our work to identify our governance and compliance issues, and to take appropriate measures."

Questions

Nissan's statement at least indicates that it has realised that it has failed massively when it comes to ensuring it had preventative measures in place that were fit for purpose and properly enforced. While the car giant has been reasonably open in acknowledging its problem, we still have far more questions than answers regarding the fall from grace of its top man.

Some of those questions will demand answers in the near future: What is the true extent of the wrongdoing? Who was complicit in either the wrongdoing or any attempts to cover it up? And why did it take a whistle blower - rather than someone whose job it was to scrutinise the finances - to identify the wrongdoing and raise the alarm?

The answers, if and when they come, may well help us deduce whether this was a one-off case that was allowed to happen through negligence on the part of the company or part of systematic wrongdoing involving more than one or two individuals.

The...

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