Nissan and Mitsubishi shares plummet in Carlos Ghosn arrest

Following the arrest of chairman Carlos Ghosn, shares have slumped at Nissan and Mitsubishi in Tokyo.

The businessman has been accused of not fully reporting his income by five billion yen (around £34.5m) over a period of five years. He has also supposedly used the company assets for personal use.

Both Nissan and Mitsubishi have said they wish to remove Ghosn from his title. The board of Renault will also soon decide this.

Shares in Nissan sank 5.5 per cent and Mitsubishi Motors plummeted by 6.9 per cent.

The apparently ‘startling’ news was revealed in a press conference yesterday (November 19), whereby it was announced that a whistleblower had spoken of “significant acts of misconduct”.

Nissan’s chief executive, Hiroto Saikawa, said: “Too much authority was given to one person in terms of governance.

“I have to say that this is a dark side of the Ghosn era which lasted for a long time.”

A case like this could mean Ghosn is fined 10 million yen, put in prison for up to 10 years, or both.

Ghosn has not commented on the case.