Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the automaker and roughly a dozen unnamed individuals in Beirut after spending time in a Japanese prison, Lebanese officials said Tuesday.
Filed last month, Ghosn’s lawsuit accuses Nissan and the individuals of defamation and by "fabricating charges" that had him arrested in November 2018. Charges included breach of trust, misusing company assets for personal gains and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation.
Judge Sabbouh Suleiman at Beirut’s prosecutor’s office said a hearing date for the case was set for September.
Ghosn, who served as the head of Nissan and Renault for two decades, has repeatedly claimed his innocence, despite a daring bail jump in December 2019 when Ghosn hid in a box aboard a private jet out of the country.
Former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn speaks at a roundtable event at St. Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. (Hasan Shaaban/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Japanese prosecutors subsequently charged three Americans with helping Ghosn escape the country.
Now in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan and does not extradite its citizens, Ghosn has citizenship in Lebanon, France and Brazil.
Lebanon has received three notices from Interpol based on arrest warrants in Japan and France for Ghosn. In France, Ghosn faces legal challenges including tax evasion and alleged money laundering, fraud and misuse of company assets while at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.