Ghosn Family Allowed to Enter Rio Apartment

December 13, 2018

Sao Paulo--A Brazilian court on Wednesday granted the family of sacked Nissan Motor Co. <7201> Chairman Carlos Ghosn supervised access to a luxury apartment in Rio de Janeiro that the Japanese automaker had bought and provided to him as a home.

In the wake of a pay scandal involving Ghosn, the Nissan side has changed the apartment's lock to keep people close to him out of the property facing the famous Copacabana Beach. The apartment was bought by a Nissan unit.

Ghosn was removed as Nissan chairman last month after he was arrested by Japanese prosecutors on suspicion of underreporting his compensation in the automaker's financial filings.

Initially, the court issued a provisional decision on Dec. 6 to give the Ghosn side 24-hour access to the apartment, in response to its hope to bring personal belongings from there.

However, the initial decision had been suspended since Saturday, following a complaint filed by Nissan, wary of destruction of evidence.

In the latest decision, the court requires that the Ghosn family members be accompanied by two enforcement officers when they enter the apartment to take out private documents, photos, clothes, jewelry, watches and books.

The court also demanded that the Ghosn side allow the officers to make a list of his belongings and return the apartment's key to Nissan later. Jiji Press