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Nissan's Ghosn crisis

$15m payment to Ghosn associate was logged as 'promotional costs'

Nissan ex-chairman says the money was legitimate reward for lobbying activity

Carlos Ghosn at a 2009 event in Riyadh. The arrested Nissan ex-chairman allegedly used company funds to reward a Saudi associate for help with a personal investment.
Carlos Ghosn at a 2009 event in Riyadh. The arrested Nissan ex-chairman allegedly used company funds to reward a Saudi associate for help with a personal investment.   © Reuters

TOKYO -- Then-Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn treated as "sales promotional costs" roughly $14.7 million paid to a Saudi associate as part of an alleged scheme to shift private investment losses to the automaker, sources told Nikkei on Sunday.

Ghosn is suspected to have transferred the $14.7 million from Dubai-based Nissan Middle East, which oversees the automaker's operations in that region, to a bank account of a company operated by the acquaintance in four installments from June 2009 to March 2012. As then-CEO of Nissan, Ghosn apparently used the automaker's discretionary "CEO reserve."

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