The Lebanese judiciary issued a decision requiring former auto industry tycoon Carlos Ghosn to vacate a house he lives in Lebanon based on a lawsuit filed against him four years ago, according to what a judicial source said on Saturday.
In 2019, Foenus, a company linked to Nissan, filed a lawsuit over the ownership of the house in which Aden, who moved to Lebanon after fleeing Japan, resides.
The text of the judicial decision issued on October 16 stated that it was decided to oblige Ghosn and his wife “to vacate the property (…) within a period of one month.”
The judicial source explained that the house, valued at 19 million US dollars, is registered in the name of the Lebanese company “Fonius”, which accused Ghosn of “trespassing on private property and living in the house without legal justification.”
According to the text of the decision, Ghosn stated that the company is affiliated with Nissan, and that “the property was purchased (…) specifically for his residence, and that there is an agreement signed with Nissan that grants him the right to reside.”
It was found, according to the decision, that Ghosn occupied the house with the approval of the plaintiff “and in accordance with the contractual relationship that linked (…) Ghosn and the Nissan company. However, with the end of this relationship and the plaintiff expressing her desire to recover the property, the defendant’s continuation of this occupancy will lose its legal justification.” .
The judicial source explained that Ghosn filed an appeal against the decision before the Beirut Court of Appeal on Friday.
Ghosn, a businessman who holds French, Lebanese, and Brazilian nationalities, used to reside in the house during his previous visits to Beirut, before he resided there in December 2019 after fleeing Japan, where he was awaiting trial.
The luxurious house is located in an upscale neighborhood in the Achrafieh district of Beirut.
A statement by Ghosn’s spokesman reported the availability of documents supporting Ghosn’s appeal that were not available during previous hearings.
“He will now be able to provide all the documents that were withheld in Japan and were not able to secure in time,” the statement added.
The Japanese authorities suspect that Ghosn, the former head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, did not declare a large portion of his income to the financial authorities. He was also charged with concealing his income between 2015 and 2018.
Ghosn was dismissed from the chairmanship of Nissan’s board of directors, and then from Mitsubishi Motors. In January 2019, he relinquished the presidency of Renault.
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