Nissan Motor Co.'s Saudi Arabian business partner said his company helped the automaker resolve a dealership dispute and pave the way for a joint venture in justifying $14.7 million in payments now under scrutiny by Tokyo prosecutors in the investigation of ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
A company controlled by Khaled Juffali, the scion of a powerful business family and chairman of one of the kingdom's biggest conglomerates, E.A. Juffali & Brothers, defended Ghosn in its first public statement since Tokyo prosecutors re-arrested the embattled auto executive Dec. 21 on suspicion of improperly shifting personal investment losses to the automaker.
"The $14.7 million in payments over four years from Nissan Motor Co. were for legitimate business purposes in order to support and promote Nissan's business strategy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and included reimbursement for business expenses," said a statement issued on behalf of Khaled Juffali Co. by its New York-based public relations representative Terry Rooney, founder and CEO of RooneyPartners.