VOA慢速英语2018--日法汽车联盟领袖被捕

Leader of Japanese-French Car Alliance Arrested

Japan’s Nissan Motor Company says its chairman, Carlos Ghosn, has been arrested and will be dismissed from his position.

He is accused of under-reporting his earnings¹ and misusing² company money.

Nissan’s chief executive officer, Hiroto Saikawa, confirmed that Ghosn was arrested on Monday. He announced that Ghosn was detained after being questioned by Japanese government lawyers after he arrived in Japan.

The development surprised many people and raised questions about the partnership³ of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors. Together, the three companies make up one of the world’s biggest car manufacturing groups.

Nissan said that Ghosn and another company official, Greg Kelly, are accused of misusing millions of dollars. It said an investigation⁴ was launched after someone inside the company told officials about suspected wrongdoing.

Kelly also was arrested.

Saikawa apologized at a press conference, saying he felt great disappointment. He told reporters that the investigation had identified “serious misconduct.” He added that he wanted to reduce “the impact on the operation and our business partners.”

Nissan Motors, which is based in Yokohama, said it is providing information to the Japanese government and is cooperating with the investigation.

Saikawa said that a “system in the company” had permitted the activity to remain hidden. He said three kinds of wrongdoing were identified: under-reporting of earnings, using investment money for personal gain and illegal use of company money.

He added that Nissan’s board of directors will vote Thursday on whether to dismiss both Ghosn and Kelly.

Unusual for a Japanese company head

Saikawa said he could not provide more details because the investigation was continuing. But he promised Nissan’s leadership would get more involved in supervising top company officials.

Ghosn has been at Nissan for 19 years. The Reuters news agency reports that he had signed a contract earlier this year that would have kept him employed until 2022. His pay is unusually high for leaders of Japanese businesses.

Japan’s NHK and Kyodo News Service reported that Nissan paid Ghosn about $89 million over the five years ending in 2015. However, they added that he reported only half that: about $44 million.

Company documents show that Ghosn received $8.9 million in yearly pay until 2016, when shareholders⁵ voted against his pay deal. In 2017, he received a 30 percent cut in pay.

Ghosn is credited with helping⁶ Nissan improve the profitability of its business operations. Before he joined the company almost 20 years ago, it was close to financial collapse⁷.

A French citizen, Ghosn also was credited with helping French carmaker Renault become profitable through cost-cutting measures and new products like electric cars.

However, he made enemies of French labor⁸ unions and some politicians.

Ghosn was an unusual business leader because he served as chief executive of Nissan and also of Renault starting in 2005. In 2016, he also became chairman of Mitsubishi Motors, another one of Japan’s large carmakers.

The partnership between Nissan and Renault started in 1999. Ghosn was born in Brazil 64 years ago. He holds both Brazilian and French citizenship⁹. He came to Nissan from Renault, France’s largest carmaker.

Nissan’s Saikawa was asked if Ghosn was a good or bad leader.

“He achieved much that many others could not do in reforms, especially in the beginning,” he said.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

misconduct – n. wrong behavior that is illegal or morally wrong

achieve – v. to become successful; to reach a goal

contract – n. a business agreement between two more or more people

board – n. a group of people with supervisory or advisory¹⁰ powers

disappointment – n. dissatisfaction

1 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

2 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

10 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。