Carlos Ghosn’s arrest sparks conspiracy theories in Lebanon
Talk abounds in grandparents’ homeland on the real reason behind car chief’s downfall
At the “Ghosn” breakfast café in the coastal town of Jounieh, Lebanon, one name is on everybody’s lips: Carlos Ghosn, a distant relative of the café’s owner, whose rescue of Nissan and vast wealth had won him legendary status in his grandparents’ homeland.
Lebanon, where Mr Ghosn spent four days before his arrest in Tokyo, is bubbling with conspiracy theories about its celebrated son’s downfall. Mr Ghosn is so famous here that he became the first business figure to be commemorated on a Lebanese postage stamp last year.
Some cite reports that Nissan disapproved of his planned merger with Renault. A Beirut banker, who has known Mr Ghosn for years, called it “the Sudoku going on in Japan”.
Others speculate that Renault’s continued operations in Iran have made Mr Ghosn the victim of an American plot.
“These charges against him have their political and economic reasons,” fumed a local construction boss.
In Lebanon, where tax evasion costs the Treasury an estimated $4bn a year, many feel that the punishment Mr Ghosn faces for allegedly misstating his income is draconian.
Gebran Bassil, Lebanon’s foreign minister, threw his support behind the detained executive, instructing the country’s Tokyo ambassador to ensure Mr Ghosn had “a real opportunity to defend himself”.
Mr Ghosn, born in Brazil to Lebanese parents and educated in Lebanon from the age of six, also has French and Brazilian citizenship.
Many worry about the reputational fallout. “This is a big hit on the image of Lebanese businessmen,” said Ayman Jomaa, a Lebanese tech entrepreneur who was an investor in the music app Shazam, bought by Apple in 2017.
“In Lebanon, he was a superstar,” said a Lebanese business editor. “People were even considering him for president.”
Although he has denied political ambitions, Mr Ghosn has personal business interests in Lebanon. He is a non-executive board member of Saradar bank in the country, whose quarterly meeting he attended on Thursday, arriving in Beirut on Nissan’s jet. He is also a partner in Lebanese winemaker Ixsir and the Cedrar luxury real estate venture, in the famous Lebanese cedar tree forests.
Mr Ghosn’s east Beirut property, a freshly renovated traditional building with marshmallow pink walls, has been dragged into the controversy. A person with knowledge of the investigation said a Nissan affiliate was implicated in allegedly buying houses for Mr Ghosn in Beirut and Rio de Janeiro. Beirut real estate sources estimate the house was originally bought at $5m-$6m, but could now be worth $11m.
In Sarba, Mr Ghosn’s ancestral village below Mount Lebanon, some residents acknowledged limits to any conspiracy. “I am with him,” said a Sarba hardware store proprietor, but qualified that the case was far from clear.
“We support him because he’s Lebanese,” said Elie Ghosn, whose family has run the Ghosn café since 1902 and whose grandfather was the cousin of Carlos Ghosn’s grandfather. “But,” he said, as he prepared garlicky beans, “there are a lot of secrets in his life”.