Ghosn-linked Shell firm likely set up for fund misuse

April 8, 2019

Tokyo--A Lebanese shell company linked to former Nissan Motor Co. <7201> Chairman Carlos Ghosn may have been set up to misappropriate Nissan funds, informed sources said Sunday.

The company, Good Faith Investments, is at the center of fresh allegations against Ghosn. He was rearrested last week on suspicion of causing damage to Nissan between 2015 and 2018 by getting 5 million dollars in Nissan money transferred to the shell company.

Investigations by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office have found that Good Faith Investments, whose effective owner appears to be Ghosn, was set up by founders including a local lawyer in 2015, the sources said.

The fund transfers to Good Faith Investments started no earlier than December 2015.

Nissan Middle East FZE, a subsidiary of the Japanese automaker, sent money to Omani dealer Suhail Bahwan Automobiles LLC.

Part of the money reached Good Faith Investments via multiple accounts. An account of an Indian executive of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles responsible for accounting was involved in part of the murky money flows, according to the sources.

Good Faith Investments is suspected of using the money to make investments between 2015 and 2018 in a U.S. company established by Ghosn's eldest son, the sources said.

Internal probes by Nissan have found that money from French automaker Renault SA, Nissan's alliance partner, also appears to have been paid into accounts of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles and the Indian executive.

Ghosn has denied all allegations against him. Jiji Press