A judge in Lebanon has ordered former Renault and Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn to vacate the home he has been living in for the past four years after fleeing Japan.
Ever since Ghosn broke his Japanese bail conditions and fled the country on a private jet while hidden in an audio equipment case, he has been living at a sprawling $19 million property in Beirut. Unfortunately for him and his wife, he was ordered to vacate the premises within a month on October 16.
Ghosn does not own the house. Instead, it is registered to the Lebanese company Phoinos Investment and the company initiated legal action against Ghosn for residing there in 2019. The company claims he is “trespassing on private property and living in the home without legal basis.” The former industry executive juggernaut asserts that Phoinos Investment was affiliated with Nissan and that “the property was purchased … for his residence, and there is a signed agreement with Nissan that grants him the right to reside.”
However, a judge notes that Ghosn only occupied the home “according to a contractual relationship linking” himself and Nissan and that the end of his relationship with Nissan invalidates “the legal basis” for him to reside there, Japan Times reports.
Read: Carlos Ghosn Files $1 Billion Suit Against Nissan
A lawyer for Ghosn confirmed that he has appealed the decision and that his appeal will be supported by documents from Japan that had been unavailable during prior hearings.
Ghosn was originally charged with financial misconduct in Japan in 2018 but has been on the offensive since he fled at the end of 2019. Earlier this year, the 69-year-old filed a suit in the Court of Cassation in Lebanon accusing Nissan, two other companies, and 12 individuals of defamation, slander, libel, fabricating evidence, and other crimes. He is seeking $588 million in lost compensation and costs as well as $500 million in punitive damages.
