Behind the Bars: List of Company Heads Who Have Committed Financial Violations Carlos Ghosn has been charged for underreporting his income and making personal use of company assets for his own benefit
By Komal Nathani •
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Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has been arrested again under fresh allegations of financial misconduct, after being released just last month on a $9 million bail.
This time, Ghosn has critical charges on suspicion of funneling $5 million from payments made by a Nissan subsidiary to a third party for personal gain. The 64-year-old executive is already fighting charges of underreporting his income and making personal use of company assets for his own benefit, said the auto-maker company in its statement to press. Ghosn had reportedly spent the next 10 days in the custody of Japanese authorities.
Ghosn's term as a chairman at Nissan had done wonders for the company in past and the news of the "financial misconduct" charges comes as big jolt to the company's top leadership. Ghosn has also gained a status of an expert in the auto-making industry as he took the reins of Nissan in his hands when it was about to collapse. He is also hailed for many innovations in the auto industry as he was the one who made the world's largest car-making alliance as chairman of Nissan, chief executive of Renault and chairman of the board at Mitsubishi.
Often called as a "legendary chairman" in the auto industry, Ghosn, is now being counted in the list of executives that have made financial violations within the company.
Here's a list of executives gone through the same charges in the past.
WikipediaRodrigo Rato, former chairman of Spain’s Bankia SA
Rodrigo Rato, former chairman of Bankia, was arrested on the conviction of making credit card frauds while running Bankia. The 69-year-old was charged for the misappropriation of the company's credit cards along with dozens of other executives for their own personal purchases totalling 12.5 million euros. Rato was sentenced for four and half years jail in October this year after he lost the legal battle. He is also a former managing director of International Monetary Fund.
WikipediaLee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics Co
Former chairman of the South Korean electronics giant Samsung, Lee Kun-hee was convicted in 2009 for tax evasion case. Hee kept the company's millions under the accounts of other people. After serving the jail term, Hee was again in news in the further investigation into the matter this year, which revealed that he managed funds in 260 bank accounts under names of 72 executives, suspected of evading taxes worth 8.2 billion won.
John Visconti, former CEO of now bankrupt firm Axium International
The 71-year-old Visconti was convicted for embezzling $5 million from the now-bankrupt firm Axium International along with his co-conspirator Garber in the company. Visconti was charged for conspiracy, tax evasion and filing the wrong tax returns while running Axium. Visconti was alleged to have used various means, including secret bank accounts, weekly cash payments to themselves and a construction consulting firm that billed Axium for $570,000, said media reports. Visconti was termed for two years jail and was ordered to pay $1.75 million to Internal Revenue Service.
