Ex-Nissan chairman claims 'plot and treason' got him fired and arrested

Nissan's ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn isn't just maintaining his innocence. He's claiming fellow Nissan executives orchestrated his alleged crimes.

Ghosn led the Japanese car company until November, when he was arrested and fired after an internal report showed he'd under-reported his salary and committed other financial crimes. He's been in jail ever since, but gave his first interview to Nikkei Asian Review on Wednesday, claiming that his charges are the result of a "plot and treason" by other executives.

In November, Nissan said Ghosn and its board director had been under-reporting compensation amounts to the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report for years. They also said he misused company assets, prompting his firing and quick arrest by Japanese authorities. Ghosn was arrested for a second time in December when prosecutors accused him of shifting personal losses to the company. Ghosn had long been seen as rescuing the company, but had also faced accusations of running the company like a "dictator," per Nikkei.

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Ghosn sees it differently, he said in an interview with Nikkei. He and Nissan President Hiroto Saikawa had discussed a "plan to integrate" Nissan with its French partner Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, Ghosn said, and he wanted to bring the three makers in "autonomy under one holding company." But "people translated strong leadership to dictator, to distort reality" for the "purpose of getting rid of me," Ghosn claimed.

There was no recording or photo from the interview, The New York Times notes. A Nissan spokesman declined to comment to the Times. Read more at Nikkei Asian Review.